Gold settled around $4,210 per ounce on Friday, close to its highest levels since late October, paring an earlier rally as a string of US data reinforced the case for an imminent Fed cut. The delayed September PCE rose 0.3% month on month and 2.8% year on year while core PCE eased to 2.8% from 2.9%, a mix of sticky goods prices and cooling services inflation that points to softer underlying pressure. The preliminary Michigan survey brightened slightly to 53.3 as one-year inflation expectations slipped to 4.1% and the five-year outlook eased to 3.2%, reinforcing the view that near-term price pressures are abating. Those signals combined with ADP’s surprise 32,000 drop in private payrolls and Challenger’s 71,321 announced layoffs to push markets to price roughly an 87% chance of a 25bp cut, prompting position adjustments that lifted bullion.