Gold prices were trading at five-month lows on Friday, as optimism over the U.S. tax reform overhaul continued to support demand for the greenback ahead of the highly-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the day.

Comex gold futures was down $2.00 or about 0.16% at $1,251.10 a troy ounce by 02:55 a.m. ET (06:55 GMT), the lowest since July.

The greenback was boosted after the U.S. Congress on Thursday passed legislation to temporarily fund the government through December 22, beofre a Friday midnight deadline and fuelling hopes the highly-anticipated U.S. tax reform will also be passed before the end of the year.

U.S. Senate Republicans agreed to talks with the House of Representatives on a major tax reform bill on Wednesday, signaling that lawmakers could agree on a final bill ahead of a self-imposed December 22 deadline.

The U.S. dollar was also boosted after data on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims declined last week for third consecutive week.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.15% at 93.89, its highest since November 21.

Investors seemed to put aside potential geopolitcal tensions following President Donald Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the U.S. embassy there.