Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.2 percent to $1,284.27 an ounce, and traded at $1,284.61 by 9:28 a.m. in Singapore, declining for a second day, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal is down 0.8 percent this week after sliding to $1,277.79 on April 1, the lowest since Feb. 11.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said this week that “considerable slack” in labor markets showed accommodative policies will be needed for “some time,” after last month saying that the central bank may end bond buying this fall and raise borrowing costs six months after that. Data today may show U.S. employers added 200,000 positions last month, the biggest increase since November, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

“Gold will stick to a tight trading range as traders look to U.S. economic data for direction,” said Ethan Wai, a research analyst at Wing Fung Financial Group, a Hong Kong-based gold trader and refiner.

Gold for June delivery traded at $1,284.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,284.60 yesterday. Futures are heading for a third weekly decline, the longest stretch since July. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust were unchanged for a second day yesterday after dropping to 810.98 metric tons on April 1, the least since March 7.

Silver for immediate delivery retreated 0.3 percent to $19.799 an ounce, poised for a third week of losses, the longest such run since November. Platinum fell 0.2 percent to $1,439.38 an ounce, trimming the first weekly advance in a month. Palladium dropped 0.2 percent to $787 an ounce, heading for a weekly increase.

To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net Ovais Subhani