GOLD price trades in positive territory near $4,185 during the early Asian session on Friday. The precious metal drifts higher as traders anticipate that the reopening of the US government will restore the flow of economic data and reinforce bets of further US interest rate cuts.

A record shutdown in US history ended on Thursday after Trump signed a funding bill to reopen the government. The House of Representatives approved the bill earlier Thursday in a 222-209 vote, with nearly every Republican and a handful of Democrats voting for it. The expectation that US economic data released after the end of the shutdown will reveal US labor market weakness could weigh on the US Dollar (USD) and lift the USD-denominated commodity price in the near term.

Any pullback in Gold will likely be short-lived as markets continue to predict an 25 basis points (bps) interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) next month, according to 80% of economists polled by Reuters.

Looking ahead, Gold traders will continue to closely scrutinize speeches from Fed officials as the central bank appears divided on the next rate move amid weakening labor market conditions and the inflation dilemma.