Gold steady before US payrolls data, heads for small weekly gain

Gold held steady on Friday and was poised for ​a small weekly gain, ​as attention turned to highly awaited U.S. payrolls data ​for clues on the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold held its ground at $4,475.75 per ounce, as of 0040 GMT. Prices jumped 2% ‌on Thursday ⁠as ⁠traders scaled back expectations for a September rate hike after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would support leaving rates unchanged if data continued to show inflation pressures moderating.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.4% to $4,522.60.


Traders are pricing in an about 50% chance of ​a Fed rate hike later this month, ⁠according to ‌the CME FedWatch Tool.

Though gold is ​often viewed ​as an inflation hedge, elevated interest rates tend ⁠to weigh on the non-yielding asset.

The U.S. ​nonfarm payrolls report is due at 1230 GMT.

Data showed the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week amid low layoffs, pointing to stable labour market conditions.

The European Central Bank will likely raise rates on September 10 for the second and final ‌time in what would be its shortest hiking campaign in 15 years, according to a Reuters poll.

Among ​other metals, spot ​silver fell ⁠0.1% to $66.88 per ounce, platinum lost 0.3% at $1,820.18 and palladium declined 0.4% to $1,415.37.

Impala Platinum said on Thursday its annual profit increased more than ​31-fold, driven by higher platinum group metal prices.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0600 Germany Industrial Orders MM Jul

0600 Germany Manufacturing O/P Cur Price SA Jul

0600 Germany Consumer Goods SA Jul

0830 UK S&P Global PMI: MSC Composite Aug

1230 US Non-Farm Payrolls Aug

1230 US Unemployment Rate Aug

1230 US Average Earnings YY Aug