* U.S. non-farm payrolls data due at 1230 GMT
* Gold little changed this week after 4 weekly losses
* GRAPHIC-2016 asset returns: http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC
(Updates throughout, changes dateline, pvs BENGALURU)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Gold steadied after two days of
losses on Friday, hemmed into a narrow range ahead of key U.S.
payrolls data later in the session which will be closely watched
for its implications for U.S. monetary policy.
A strong reading could boost expectations that the Federal
Reserve will lift interest rates sooner rather than later, a
move that would be bearish for non-yielding gold. MKTS/GLOB
Gold prices are highly sensitive to U.S. rate expectations,
and have fallen more than 5 percent since minutes from a Fed
meeting indicated in mid-May that a summer rate hike may be on
the table. They hit a 3-1/2 month low of $1,199.60 on Monday.
Spot gold XAU= was at $1,210.86 an ounce at 0930 GMT,
little changed from $1,210.49 late on Thursday. U.S. gold
futures GCv1 for June delivery were up 90 cents at $1,213.50.
"Trading volume is low ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls
data," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Forex, said.
"Traders will gauge this very closely and they will relate this
to the Fed sentiment."
"If you look at the odds for a June interest rate hike, they
have started to fade again," he said. "If the U.S. NFP data is
immensely strong today, the odds could tilt once again in favour
of the Fed."
The metal has fallen for the last four weeks, under pressure
from comments from senior U.S. central bank officials, including
chief Janet Yellen, which boosted expectations of an imminent
rate rise. However, it remains up 14 percent so far this year.
World shares rose towards their highest in a month on
Friday, although concerns about rising prospects of a near-term
U.S. rate hike kept activity subdued. MKTS/GLOB
Gold demand in Asia, home to the world's biggest consumers
of physical gold, was muted this week as a slight increase in
India and Japan was offset by reductions in other trading
centres as buyers awaited further price declines. GOL/AS
"There hasn't been much movement in the physical aspect of
gold, with investors preferring to watch from the sidelines (as)
they are expecting a rate hike," Brian Lan, managing director at
Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central, said.
Among other precious metals, platinum XPT= was up 0.6
percent at $955.50 an ounce after earlier touching its lowest
since April 8 at $950 an ounce.
Silver XAG= was up 0.3 percent at $16.02 an ounce, while
palladium XPD= was up 0.9 percent at $537.85 an ounce.
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