Investing.com – Gold prices made modest gains in mid-morning trading in Asia on Friday as the dollar edged down, but the yellow metal is still far from recovery.

Gold futures for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange traded 0.10% higher to $1,287.25 a troy ounce by 11:10 PM ET (4:10 AM GMT) on Friday morning.

Since the safe-haven metal hit a peak of around $1,349 on Feb. 20, it has not been able to bounce back to above $1,300.

But it made small gains as the dollar dropped on Friday morning. The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies was down by 0.05% to 97.518.

A weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated assets, such as gold, cheaper for foreign buyers.

Still, the dollar is expected to stay firm for a while. It gained against the Euro overnight and rose to a near three-month peak after the European Central Bank (ECB) postponed an interest rate hike. U.S. non-farm payrolls for February that is due later in the day may also support the dollar.

“Whether the dollar can remain on an uptrend in the long-term is debatable, but for now a strong U.S. jobs report would provide further boost for the currency,” Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo, told Reuters.

What also worries the investors is a global economic slowdown, as the ECB slashed its economic growth forecast and announced a round of fresh stimulus after the meeting on Thursday.

The news came in the same week that China cut its economic expansion target.

At the same time, the U.S. and China have yet to resolve their trade spats, though U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing for a deal to be closed soon.

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