Gold prices climbed above the $4,400-an-ounce mark for the first time since June, putting the precious metal on track for its strongest weekly performance since January as weaker oil prices and a mixed US nonfarm payrolls report fueled investor demand.

Spot gold rose nearly 3% to $4,356.28 an ounce after reaching a seven-week high in the previous session, The Caspian Post reports, citing CNBC.

The metal has gained more than 5% over the course of the week. Meanwhile, US gold futures edged up 0.3% to $4,312.00.

Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at StoneX, said easing inflation expectations driven by hopes for peace in the Middle East helped gold break out of a multi-week consolidation above the $4,000 level.

US President Donald Trump told reporters that he believed the war with Iran would end soon, while also acknowledging that the US military was facing supply shortages of certain weapons.

At the same time, crude oil prices were on course for a weekly decline. Lower energy costs tend to reduce inflationary pressures and lessen expectations that interest rates will remain elevated for longer. While gold is widely viewed as a hedge against inflation, higher interest rates generally reduce its appeal because the metal does not generate yield.

Investor sentiment toward gold strengthened after the July US nonfarm payrolls report showed the economy lost 23,000 jobs during the month, sharply missing Wall Street forecasts for an increase of 83,000 jobs. Despite the contraction in employment, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% from 4.2% as fewer people were either employed or actively seeking work compared with June.

“Regardless of how NFP plays out, $4,000 has proven to be a solid support level, and I suspect bulls are waiting for dips to take advantage of a much-needed correction higher towards $4,600. NFP may provide some noise over the near term, but price action has spoken, and gold looks like it wants to rally,” Simpson said.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders now see a 55% probability of a US interest rate hike in September, down from 63% a week earlier.