2017.06.2313:59:00UTC+00Gold In Recovery Mode, Flat For Week

Gold futures rose for a third session Friday, inching away from recent 6-week lows amid conflicting signs about U.S. interest rates.

August gold rose $7, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,256.40 an ounce, and were flat for the week.

Last week, the Fed said it still plans to raise interest rates four times by the end of 2018, prompting a sell-off in gold. However, incoming economic data has been mixed of late, prompting some Fed officials to signal they would rather wait for more positive developments.

"Recent inflation data have surprised to the downside and call into question the idea that U.S. inflation is reliably returning toward target," St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said at an Illinois Bankers Association conference. "The Fed can wait and see how the economy develops before making any further adjustments to the policy rate."

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said new home sales climbed by 2.9 percent to an annual rate of 610,000 in May from the upwardly revised April rate of 593,000. Economists were expecting a larger increase.

A first reading of manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to a nine-month low in June. The IHS Markit manufacturing index fell to a reading of 52.1 in June from 52.7 in May.