PRECIOUS-Gold steady; investors eye U.S. non-farm payroll data

Published 2018-11-02, 03:19 a/m
© Reuters.  PRECIOUS-Gold steady; investors eye U.S. non-farm payroll data
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* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust rise

* Platinum hits fresh high since June 27

* U.S. jobs report due at 1230 GMT

By Eileen Soreng

BENGALURU, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Friday held on to gains from the previous session as investors remained cautious ahead of a U.S. jobs report, which could provide clues on the pace of further interest rate hikes.

Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,232.81 per ounce, as of 0702 GMT. Prices climbed to their highest since Oct. 26 at $1,237.39 per ounce on Thursday, as the dollar sagged.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were down 0.3 percent at $1,235.1 per ounce.

"The industry is being a little cautious ahead of the jobs data today ... It's certainly a time for them to take a bit of stock after the volatility in the equities markets," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, non-farm payrolls probably rebounded by 190,000 jobs in October after Florence depressed restaurant and retail payrolls in September.

"Friday's non-farm payroll number will be doubly important since another miss in the number, as was the case last month, could generate further weakness in the greenback and give gold a shot at taking out the $1,245 high," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir in a note.

In the wider markets, the dollar steadied on Friday after pulling back from 16-month highs in the previous session as investors cautiously moved back into riskier assets. USD/

Meanwhile, Asian shares jumped after the U.S. and Chinese presidents expressed optimism about resolving their bruising trade war, ahead of a high-stakes meeting planned at the end of November in Argentina. MKTS/GLOB prices have slipped more than 9 percent from their April peak as investors turned to the dollar as a safe-haven with the trade war unfolding against a backdrop of higher U.S. interest rates.

Spot gold may retrace to a support at $1,224 per ounce before, following its failure to break a resistance at $1,237, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.90 percent to 760.82 tonnes on Thursday, biggest since late August. other precious metals, platinum XPT= climbed 1.1 percent to $865.80 per ounce, having touched its highest since June 27 at $866.30 earlier in the session. The metal was up about 4 percent for the week so far and was on track to mark its biggest weekly gain since the week ended Sept. 21.

Palladium XPD= rose 0.6 percent to $1,099.90 per ounce and silver XAG= was down 0.2 percent at $14.72 per ounce.

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