* Spot gold up 0.8% this week * Silver down 1.7% on the week (Updates prices) July 9 (Reuters) - Gold wiggled in a tight range on Friday as concerns over the Delta variant of COVID-19 were offset by a slight bounce in the U.S. Treasury yields, though the safe-haven metal remained on track for a third straight weekly gain. Spot gold edged down by 0.1% to $1,800.86 an ounce by 1114 GMT but was up 0.8% on the week. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,801.60. If there is going to be a slowdown in the global economy as a consequence of rising Delta variant cases that should be positive for gold, said CMC Markets UK’s chief market analyst Michael Hewson. “On a technical basis $1,825 will be a tough nut to crack, and if yields continue to rebound from the lows we saw this week, then we could see gold drift towards about $1,790,” Hewson added. Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields ticked higher from a more than four-month low hit in the previous session but were down on the week. Higher yields translate into a higher opportunity cost for holding non-yielding bullion. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Mary Daly told the Financial Times that low vaccination rates in some regions of the world pose a threat to the United States and global growth, adding that the central bank was fully committed to eliminating shortfalls in employment. Data on Thursday showed a rise in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week. “Investors are likely watching if gold can close out the week above $1,800 ... (If it doesn’t) Investors will likely hold off buying the short-term as they expect lower prices ahead,” said Vincent Tie, sales manager at Singapore dealer Silver Bullion. Elsewhere, silver rose 0.4% to $26.01 an ounce but was down over the week after rising for the previous fornight. Platinum, meanwhile, gained 1.2% to $1,088.00 and palladium eased by 0.1% to $2,802.26. (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru Editing by David Goodman) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.