Gold, silver extend losses on global tech rout, firmer dollar

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Gold and silver extended losses on Friday as a global rout in tech equities and a stronger U.S. dollar wiped out most gains made by the metals during a brief rebound earlier this week.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.7% at $4,735.99 per ounce, as of 0037 GMT, after a near 4% drop on Thursday. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery fell 2.8% to $4,752.40 per ounce.

Spot silver XAG= was down 3.2% at $68.97 an ounce after a 19.1% drop in the previous session. Earlier in the day, it fell as much as 10% to trade below the $65 level and hit a more than 1-1/2 month low.

MSCI's global equities gauge slumped more than 1% on Thursday as worries deepened about the enormous cost of the artificial intelligence boom, while U.S. Treasuries were in demand after weak labour market data and, in commodities, silver took another hammering. MKTS/GLOBUS/

The U.S. dollar hit a two-week high on Thursday as fresh volatility gripped stocks. USD/

Job openings, a measure of labour demand, fell by 386,000 to 6.542 million by the last day of December, the lowest level since September 2020, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Thursday.

Labour market weakness typically strengthens the case for interest rate cuts aimed at supporting job creation.

In geopolitical news, the White House said that diplomacy is President Donald Trump's first choice for dealing with Iran and he will wait to see whether a deal can be struck at high-stakes talks, but also warned that he has military options at his disposal.

Spot platinum XPT= fell 3.6% to $1,916.45 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $2,918.80 on January 26, while palladium XPD= gained 1.3% to $1,638.25.