At 12:30 GMT, the US economy released its reading of the personal spending index for March up by 4.2%, slightly lower than forecasts of 4.3%, and higher than the previous reading of a drop by 1%.

Palladium prices continued to rise to new highs on Friday, after jumping above $3,000 earlier, but soon pulled back after the US dollar rose against its peers.

Palladium was lifted recently expectations of a shortage in the global supply in tandem with improved demand, especially from automakers that heavily use the metal in manufacturing environmental-friendly care parts.

In addition to palladium's supply shortage from global miners, nickel and platinum are also in short supply.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.3% to 90.8 points as of 13:29 GMT, after hitting a high of 90.9 points and a low of 90.5 points.

Palladium June futures rose 0.8% to $2,974 an ounce as of 13:29 GMT, with a today high and the highest price ever at $3,010 and a low of $2,048.

US stock indices opened lower on Wednesday, despite strong earnings reports this week, after the release of weak economic data.

Data showed that the Chinese manufacturing PMI fell to 51.1 points last month, lower than forecasts of a rise to 55.9 points, from 51.9 in the previous reading.

The US personal income index rose 21.1% in March, while personal spending rose 4.2%.

This week, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Tesla have all reported strong earnings for the first quarter.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.4% or 125 points to 33,933 as of 13:49 GMT, Nasdaq fell 0.4% or 63 points to 14,020, and S&P 500 fell 0.4% or 18 points to 4,193.

Most US stock rose on Thursday, following the release of upbeat economic data and Q1 corporates earnings.

Apple and Facebook reported yesterday better-than-expected profits and revenues in their earnings results for the first quarter of 2021.

The first reading of the US GDP for the first quarter showed a growth of 6.4% beating forecasts of 6.8%, after a growth of 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The US Department of Labor revealed that the number of initial unemployment claims was at 553K last week, while analysts forecast 545K.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.2% or 83 points to 33,903 as of 14:12 GMT, Nasdaq rose 0.3% or 48 points to 14,098, and S&P 500 rose 0.5% or 22 points to 4,205.