Gold rose around 1 percent on Thursday, as the dollar's sharp drop and worries about an oversold equities market prompted investors to add positions in the safe-haven metal ahead of Friday's all-important nonfarm payrolls report.
After trading mostly flat earlier in the session, bullion suddenly turned higher at midday during the New York session as the dollar extended losses to plunge 3 percent versus the yen and down 1.5 percent against the euro.
Some investors sold the greenback on worries that upbeat U.S. jobs data would lead to a reduction of the Federal Reserve's stimulus program. Similar worries also weighed down on Wall Street.
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Recent U.S. data has been inconsistent at best, however, economists said.
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"We are starting to see investors being nervous about holding equities at these level going forward, so you are going to see money flow back into the safe-haven markets," said Tom Power, senior commodities traders at futures brokerage R.J. O'Brien.
Spot gold climbed 0.9 percent to $1,415 an ounce, off a three-week high at $1,423.16 an ounce set earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures gained $17.30 to settle at $1,415.80 an ounce.
