SINGAPORE, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gold added to overnight gains
on Friday and looked set to snap a six-week losing streak as a
slump in the dollar buoyed the metal above 2010 lows ahead of
the key U.S. nonfarm payrolls data later in the session.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= ticked up 0.2 percent to $1,063.80 an
ounce by 0052 GMT and looked set to post a 0.5 percent gain for
the week.
* The metal rose 0.8 percent on Thursday after the European
Central Bank's monetary easing measures fell short of
expectations, boosting the euro and hurting the dollar.
* The ECB cut its deposit rate deeper into negative
territory and extended its asset buys by six months - widely
anticipated moves that some investors considered the bare
minimum after the bank had for weeks stoked expectations of
stimulus moves.
* The euro EUR= jumped more than 3 percent against the
dollar after the policy announcement and bond yields surged.
Disappointed investors had anticipated a 25-percent increase in
monthly asset buys, with some even pricing in a bolder deposit
rate cut than the move to -0.3 percent from -0.2 percent.
* The dollar fell to a one-month low against a basket of
major currencies on the euro's rally. USD/
* A weaker dollar supported the greenback-denominated gold,
which edged away from a near-six-year low of $1,045.85 reached
earlier on Thursday on fears of a looming U.S. rate hike.
* Investors were awaiting the U.S. jobs report later this
session to gauge the strength of the economy and how it would
impact the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
* The Fed is widely expected to hike rates at the Dec. 15-16
policy meeting. Higher rates tend to weigh on
non-interest-paying gold.
* Investors have been positioning for such a move by pulling
out of bullion funds. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the top
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, are at their lowest since
September 2008. GOL/ETF
* Fed Chair Janet Yellen, speaking before Congress' Joint
Economic Committee on Thursday, said the United States may be
"close to the point at which we should be raising" rates.
* Yellen also said the U.S. economy needs to add fewer than
100,000 jobs a month to cover new entrants to the workforce,
perhaps setting an implicit floor for jobs growth that
policymakers want to see. In contrast, analysts expect the
November payrolls report on Friday to show 200,000 jobs were
added last month.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany Industrial orders Oct
1330 U.S. Nonfarm payrolls Nov
1330 U.S. Unemployment rate Nov
1330 U.S. International trade Oct
PRICES AT 0052 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1063.8 1.63 0.15
Spot silver 14.125 0.045 0.32
Spot platinum 850.31 7.32 0.87
Spot palladium 539.47 4.5 0.84
Comex gold 1062.8 1.6 0.15
Comex silver 14.095 0.018 0.13
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months