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Gold was on course to fall for a fourth straight week on Friday, hurt by the dollar's ascent and as bets for steep interest rate hikes gained traction after healthy U.S. jobs data.

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,741.94 per ounce by 2:49 p.m. ET (1849 GMT). Bullion has lost about 3.7% so far this week, which would be its worst since mid-May.

U.S. gold futures settled up 0.2% at $1,742.30.

Lately, gold has failed to attract safe-haven flows despite growing recessions risks as investors have instead opted for the dollar, which has marched to fresh two-decade highs. [USD/]

"The jobs data pushed down gold, already struggling after such a strong dollar rally. However, there is some bargain hunting coming through in gold here," said RJO Futures senior market strategist Bob Haberkorn.

U.S. job growth was more than expected in June and the unemployment rate remained near pre-pandemic lows, signalling persistent labour market strength that gives the Federal Reserve ammunition to deliver another 75-basis-point rate increase later this month.

Higher interest rates sour the appeal of gold by translating into increased opportunity cost of holding the asset since it yields no interest.

"In the short term, we still see gold supported by recession risks. Following the recent correction, we expect prices to consolidate," said Carsten Menke, head of Next Generation Research at Julius Baer.

"A lasting rebound looks rather unlikely assuming that the Fed is able to fight inflation without pushing the economy into recession."

In physical markets, demand improved slightly in India after domestic prices eased, while concerns over fresh coronavirus outbreaks kept a leash on activity in top consumer China.

Spot silver rose 0.4% to $19.27 per ounce, while platinum rose 2% to $890.56.

Palladium rose 9.2% to $2,174.18, and was set for its third straight week of gains.

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Devika Syamnath)