SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Gold added to overnight losses
on Thursday, hurt by a stronger dollar and equities, and as
investors awaited a key U.S. jobs report later this week to
gauge the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had eased 0.1 percent to $1,132.25 an
ounce by 0042 GMT, after dropping 0.5 percent on Wednesday.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 slipped 0.2 percent to $1,131.90.
* Markets in China, a major gold consumer, are closed on
Thursday and Friday for public holidays, and the absence of
Chinese buyers could weigh further on the metal's prices.
* Traders were awaiting August U.S. nonfarm payrolls data on
Friday to gauge the strength of the economy and its impact on
the timing of a rate hike by the Fed. The U.S. central bank has
pegged the likelihood of a rate increase to the strength of
economic data.
* Bullion traders remain wary of taking up fresh positions
until they receive more clarity on whether the Fed will raise
rates at its next meeting on Sept. 16-17.
* Low interest rates cut the opportunity cost of holding
non-yielding bullion.
* U.S. private payrolls data on Wednesday suggested that
labour market momentum likely remained strong enough for the Fed
to consider an interest rate hike this year. ID:nL1N1180PF
* In other industry news, Said Kerimov, son of Russian
tycoon and parliamentarian Suleiman Kerimov, may announce a
buyout offer for the remaining shares in Russia's biggest gold
producer Polyus Gold PGIL.L at $2.97 per share, a statement
said on Wednesday. ID:nL5N1183XU
* More than 1,000 South African workers at a Sibanye Gold
SGLJ.J mine have ended a two-day sit-in to protest against the
deaths of colleagues, a union and company officials said on
Wednesday. ID:nL5N1181GQ
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The price of shares and other risk assets staged a
tentative recovery in early Asian trade on Thursday though
volatility remained high as investors fretted over global
economic health. MKTS/GLOB
* The dollar climbed against the euro and yen on Thursday as
global investors tentatively stepped back into riskier equities.
USD/
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0755 Germany Markit services PMI Aug
0800 Euro zone Markit services PMI Aug
0900 Euro zone Retail sales Jul
1145 Outcome of European Central Bank policy meeting
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1230 U.S. International trade Jul
1400 U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI Aug
PRICES AT 0042 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1132.25 -1.4 -0.12
Spot silver 14.66 -0.04 -0.27
Spot platinum 1008.74 -3.76 -0.37
Spot palladium 579.5 -3 -0.52
Comex gold 1131.9 -1.7 -0.15
Comex silver 14.66 -0.007 -0.05
Euro 1.1205
DXY 96.042
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months