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By Bloomberg

Gold held the biggest climb since January after a private report showed U.S. companies added fewer workers than estimated in March, boosting speculation that the Federal Reserve may delay raising borrowing costs.

Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,203.66 an ounce at 12:46 p.m. in Singapore after rising 1.7 percent to $1,203.98 on Wednesday, the most since Jan. 30, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Gold in Shanghai headed for the biggest advance in two weeks on Thursday.

Gold dropped for two straight months as investors assessed data for clues on when the Fed may raise rates. Employment rose 189,000 last month, figures from the ADP Research Institute showed Wednesday. That’s the smallest gain since January 2014 and below the 225,000 median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Government data on Friday is projected to show employers added almost a quarter million workers to payrolls in March.

“The likely slower-than-expected pace of the Fed rate hike may have lent some interim strength to precious metal prices,” Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore, wrote in a report. “Still, the firmer-dollar scenario is likely here to stay given expectations for the Fed to start normalizing interest rates this year.”

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed for three straight quarters on speculation the U.S economy is strong enough for the Fed to raise rates this year for the first time since 2006. The gauge was little changed on Thursday after declining 0.2 percent on Wednesday, the first drop in a week.

The U.S. jobs report on Friday may show employers added 245,000 jobs in March, down from 295,000 the month before, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. The unemployment rate probably held at 5.5 percent, the lowest since 2008.

The Federal Open Market Committee will assess policy when it meets April 28-29. Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday although first-quarter economic activity slowed, the bank should still be ready to raise rates from June to September. Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said Tuesday the main interest rate should be raised in June.

Gold for June delivery fell 0.4 percent to $1,203.40 an ounce on the Comex. Bullion of 99.99 purity climbed 1.4 percent to 240.10 yuan a gram ($1,204.93 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the most since March 19.

Silver for immediate delivery was little changed at $16.9491 an ounce. Platinum declined 0.2 percent to $1,162.25 an ounce and palladium added 0.1 percent to $749.25 an ounce.