Gold prices retraced gains on Friday after data showing a strong rebound in U.S. jobs growth last month underlined expectations for a June rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Gold for June delivery settled at $1,229.01 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, off an earlier high of $1,236.00.

The precious metal ended the week down 3.26%, the largest week decline since early November.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs last month, beating expectations for a gain of 185,000 and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4%, a near a 10-year low.

The report also showed that the prior month’s figure of 98,000 was revised down to an even lower 79,000.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in April. However, downward revisions to previous months lowered the year-on-year increase to 2.5%, the smallest gain since August 2016, from 2.6% in March.

The jobs data did little to alter the view that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in June. Markets are pricing in around a 75% chance of a hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.

Expectations of a faster pace of rate increases tend to weigh on gold, which is denominated in dollars and struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when borrowing costs rise.

Fading euro zone political risks also weighed on safe haven for the precious metal ahead of Sunday’s second round vote in the French presidential elections.

Opinion polls on Friday showed centrist Emmanuel Macron with a 23- to 26-percentage-point lead over anti-EU far-right candidate Marine Le Pen ahead of Sunday’s second-round vote.Opinion polls on Friday showed centrist Emmanuel Macron with a 23- to 26-percentage-point lead over anti-EU far-right candidate Marine Le Pen ahead of Sunday’s second-round vote.