MANILA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Gold dropped for a third session
in four on Tuesday, closing in on a 5-1/2-year low, with selling
pressure supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve is
set to raise interest rates this year.
Investors looked past data on Monday that showed U.S.
manufacturing activity falling short of estimates, instead
awaiting the crucial nonfarm payrolls number due on Friday.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= slipped 0.3 percent to $1,082.8 an ounce
by 0042 GMT, near last month's low of $1,077, the weakest since
February 2010.
* U.S. gold for December delivery GCcv1 fell 0.6 percent
to $1,082.50 an ounce.
* The U.S. Institute for Supply Management's index of
national factory activity slipped to 52.7 in July, falling short
of expectations that it would match last month's reading of
53.5. But being above 50 shows the U.S. manufacturing sector
continues to expand. ID:nL1N10E0NV
* Amid an improving labour market, economists still expect
the Fed to raise interest rates this year, perhaps as early as
its next policy meeting in September. That could mean further
price losses for non-interest bearing gold.
* A key global commodities price benchmark .TRJCRB sank to
a 12-year low on Monday as copper and sugar prices hit fresh
multi-year lows and oil fell below $50 for the first time in six
months, as fears about a hard economic landing in China and
global glut deepened. COM/WRAP
* Some members of South Africa's National Union of
Mineworkers rejected a pay hike of up to 17 percent by gold
producers, raising the threat of a sector-wide fallout after
another union spurned the same offer. ID:nL5N10E28Q
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL/
MARKET NEWS
* Asian shares edged lower after downbeat economic data
pressured Wall Street ahead of key U.S. jobs data later this
week that could provide a key clue to the timing of the U.S.
Federal Reserve's interest rate increase. MKTS/GLOB
* Oil prices edged higher after tumbling 5 percent overnight
to their lowest since January as weak factory activity in China
deepened a commodity-wide rout. O/R
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0900 Euro zone Producer prices June
1345 U.S. ISM-New York index July
1400 U.S. Factory orders June