* Investors cautious ahead of US non-farm payroll data on
Friday
* Gold trades below Wednesday's over 2-year high
(Updates prices)
By Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU, July 7 (Reuters) - Gold rose for a seventh
straight session on Thursday after touching its highest in more
than two years in the previous session, with investors still
seeking safe-haven assets even as stock markets bounced back in
Asian trade.
Asian share markets crept ahead on Thursday after upbeat
U.S. economic data took some of the sting out of the latest
Brexit scare, while the Australian dollar briefly dipped as the
country's triple A credit rating came under threat. MKTS/GLOB
Wall Street got a boost from Institute for Supply Management
data showing U.S. service sector activity hit a seven-month high
in June as new orders surged and companies hired more workers.
Spot gold XAU= , which touched its highest since March 2014
at $1,374.91 on Wednesday, was trading up 0.3 percent at
$1,366.86 an ounce by 0644 GMT.
U.S. gold GCcv1 was up 0.1 percent at $1,369.
"Everyone is waiting for the U.S. non-farm payroll data for
June due on Friday. Hence, not many people are trading and hence
prices are stable," said William Wong, assistant head of dealing
for Wing Fung's precious metals desk.
Investors will be watching out for the data following a
slowdown in hiring during May. A further weakness in hiring
could be an indication that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not
raise interest rates anytime soon amid the economic uncertainty
following the Brexit vote.
Fed policymakers in June decided that interest rate hikes
should stay on hold until they have a handle on the consequences
of Britain's vote on EU membership, according to the minutes
from the Fed's June policy meeting released on Wednesday.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the
opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion,
while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
"While we expect gold to keep moving higher, we detect that
it is running into increased profit taking. Also how much more
safe-haven demand and Brexit-related-buying gold is likely to
receive in the short term are both unclear," HSBC analyst James
Steel said in a note.
The immediate resistance for gold is on the topside of
$1,375.50 an ounce while immediate support lies around $1,365
and then $1,357-58, MKS Group trader James Gardiner wrote in a
note.
Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.03 percent to 982.44
tonnes on Wednesday. GOL/ETF
Silver XAG= was up 0.1 percent at $20.08.
Among other precious metals, platinum XPT= and
Palladium XPD= were steady at $1,083.74 an ounce and $604.90
an ounce respectively.