SINGAPORE, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Gold languished near a
three-month low on Thursday as investors positioned for a U.S.
rate hike in December, while waiting for more cues from Federal
Reserve officials speaking later in the session.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,087.10 an ounce
by 0034 GMT. It had dropped to $1,083.65 in the previous
session, the lowest since Aug. 7.
* The metal had slid for ten out of 11 sessions as of
Wednesday.
* A strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report last week bolstered
market expectations that the Fed would hike rates for the first
time in nearly a decade at its next policy meet in December.
* Higher rates would dent demand for non-interest-paying
gold, while boosting the dollar.
* Traders will be eyeing remarks by at least six Fed
officials at various events later in the day for clues about
economic growth and the U.S. central bank's monetary policy.
* Chair Janet Yellen and Vice Chair Stanley Fischer will
also be speaking.
* Focus will also be on economic data. New U.S. applications
for unemployment benefits likely fell last week, almost
reversing the prior week's increase, suggesting the labour
market recovery continued to gain momentum in early November.
* Investor flows have not been encouraging for gold. Assets
in SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund,
fell to 663.43 tonnes on Tuesday - the lowest since September
2008 when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, kicking off a
global financial crisis.
* The technical picture has also deteriorated, with the next
major support level expected at a 5-1/2-year low of $1,077
reached in July.
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar, euro and yen started Thursday's trade on
familiar ground, having drifted in slim ranges overnight.
* Asian shares got off to a tentative start on Thursday,
after Wall Street ended a choppy session lower as a sharp drop
in oil prices knocked energy stocks.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany Consumer prices final Oct
1000 Euro zone Industrial production Sep
1330 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1500 U.S. JOLTS job openings Sep
PRICES AT 0034 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1087.1 1.34 0.12
Spot silver 14.32 0.03 0.21
Spot platinum 878.74 -0.76 -0.09
Spot palladium 573.47 0.25 0.04
Comex gold 1086.6 1.7 0.16
Comex silver 14.315 0.052 0.36
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months