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From Noel John

May 8 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday and is on track for weekly gains as concerns about inflation and rising interest rates eased, and investors remained optimistic about a possible deal between the United States and Iran despite clashes in the Gulf region.

Gold rose 0.8 percent to $ 4,723.56 an ounce in spot trading by 0614 GMT. It has gained 2.4 percent so far this week.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 0.5 percent to $ 4,731.70 .

The United States and Iran exchanged attacks on Thursday in the most serious test yet of the ceasefire that has been in place for nearly a month, but Iran said the situation had returned to normal and the United States confirmed it did not want to escalate the situation.

Kyle Rodda, a financial markets analyst at Capital.com, said, "The Trump administration's statements this morning, indicating that the ceasefire is still in place and that there is continued optimism about the possibility of reaching an agreement between the United States and Iran, are supporting the gold market at the moment."

Gold prices have fallen by more than 10 percent since the start of the war in late February, pressured by rising oil prices. Higher crude oil prices can fuel inflation, increasing the likelihood of interest rate hikes. Gold is considered a hedge against inflation, but rising interest rates tend to negatively impact the non-yielding asset.

Roda added, "We are just waiting for news regarding whether the United States and Iran are close to reaching an agreement. I think we may see some price fluctuations during the next 24 hours."

Markets are now awaiting the release of the monthly US employment report later today to assess how the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) has handled monetary policy this year.

A Reuters poll of economists predicted that nonfarm payrolls rose by 62,000 last month after rebounding by 178,000 in March.

As for other precious metals, silver rose 2.5 percent to $ 80.42 an ounce in spot trading, platinum climbed 1.8 percent to $ 2,057.62 , and palladium gained 1.8 percent to $ 1,507.28 .