* U.S. weekly jobless claims rose last week
* SPDR Gold holdings hit more than two-year high
* GRAPHIC-2016 asset returns: http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC
(Releads after U.S. data, updates prices, adds comment)
By Clara Denina
LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded on Thursday from
three straight days of losses as the dollar pared gains after a
larger than expected rise in weekly jobless claims in the United
States.
The number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose
17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 274,000 last week, the biggest
gain in more than a year, the Labor Department said.
Spot gold XAU= , lower initially, rose 0.2 percent to
$1,281.60 an ounce by 1348 GMT, though that was still down 1.5
percent from Monday's peak. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.7
percent to $1,284.30.
"Tomorrow's NFP remains the focal point," Macquarie analyst
Matthew Turner said, referring to U.S. non-farm payrolls data
due on Friday.
"Strong employment growth in the U.S. is what is keeping
alive the dollar's bull case and any signs it is flagging,
without any benign explanation such as a tighter labour market,
would be very bullish gold," Turner said.
Gold jumped to a 15-month high of $1,303.60 on Monday when
the dollar slumped against the yen after the Bank of Japan stood
pat on policy - before the U.S. currency recovered. FRX/
The precious metal has risen 21 percent this year as
expectations the Fed would push ahead with interest rate
increases faded.
Gold is sensitive to interest rates and returns on other
assets as higher rates lift the opportunity cost of holding the
metal.
"Gold is likely to hold in the current range between $1,250
and $1,300 until the end of the quarter, when we will have more
clarity about the Fed's interest rates path," Natixis analyst
Bernard Dahdah said.
"We need a streak of positive data points from the U.S.,
which I'm not expecting this quarter, due to the impact of
global growth weakness," Dahdah said.
Investor interest in gold remains robust. Assets in SPDR
Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, rose 0.07 percent to 825.54 tonnes on Wednesday, their
highest in more than two years. GOL/ETF
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= rose 1.1 percent
to $17.55 an ounce, platinum was up 0.6 percent at $1,063.70 and
palladium gained 1.2 percent to $604.50.
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