LONDON: Gold rose more than 1 percent on Friday, rebounding from a 4-1/2 year low, after US payrolls data missed forecasts and depressed the dollar.

The metal remained on track to fall for a third straight week, however, having dropped to its lowest since April 2010 at $1,131.85 an ounce earlier on Friday.

Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $1,153.20 an ounce at 1435 GMT, while US gold futures for December delivery were up $10.40 an ounce at $1,153.00. Spot prices are down 1.8 percent on the week.

Gold had been under pressure for a week from a rising dollar, which has benefited from expectations that the Fed will move before other central banks to tighten monetary policy.

The dollar surrendered some of those gains after data from the Labor Department showed the US economy added 214,000 jobs last month, against expectations for 231,000.

The rise remained brisk, however, while the unemployment rate fell to a fresh six-year low. That suggests the economy remains on a strengthening path longer term, analysts said.

"I'm not surprised to see some purchasing at these low levels, but we're not expecting gold to go back to $1,200 by the end of the year. We're on a slope downward toward $1,100," Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said.

"There is still some more room for the dollar to strengthen.

We've got things we're expecting next year, like higher interest rates, that will gradually push gold to lower levels."

Trading in gold was choppy in Asia. After subdued trading early on, US gold futures slid 1 percent to $1,130.40 an ounce, their lowest level since March 2010, on high volumes. In the five minutes to 0500 GMT nearly 5,000 lots changed hands.

But at around 0635 GMT prices popped up about $10, again on high volumes. A precious metals trader in Hong Kong said the sharp drop in gold was due to stop-loss orders below $1,138.

Gold had been selling off sharply since last Friday when the price broke through $1,180, the lowest level reached during a 28 percent plunge last year.

Since then the strength in the dollar and breaks below other key technical levels have continued to drag on gold.