* Focus shifts to U.S. jobs data, market reaction
* N. Korea rocket launch could be positive in short term
* G20 agreement on IMF's gold sales within expectations
* SPDR Gold ETF <GLD> holdings stay at record high
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Gold held steady above $900 on
Friday following a slump the previous day when its safe-haven
status was hit by a stock rally as the G20 agreed on steps to
restore global economic growth and rebuild the financial
system.
But gold could face another bout of selling later in the
day if stock markets take U.S. nonfarm payrolls data in their
stride after weak related jobs data this week.
"The overall market outlook is quiet in Asia. I think the
market has discounted the news about the announcement of G20,"
said Louis Lok, a dealer at Bank of China in Hong Kong.
"The next focus is the U.S. announcement of the nonfarm
payrolls data," and its impact on metals, stock and currency
markets, Lok said.
Spot gold <XAU=> stood at $903.45 an ounce by 0516 GMT,
almost flat with New York's notional close of $903.15. It has
fallen about 2 percent this week, retreating further from a
peak in February above $1,000.
Analysts polled by Reuters are forecasting that U.S.
nonfarm payrolls shrank by 650,000 in March, nearly matching a
fall of 651,000 in February.
Bank of China's Lok said even a steady day on Wall Street
following the jobs data could be negative for gold after it
failed to climb above $930 per ounce this week.
"It's a tug of war between hopes for an economic recovery
and data showing the economy is still in poor condition," said
Tatsufumi Okoshi, senior economist at Nomura Securities Co's
financial and economic research centre.
"Gold will basically move in a range around the $900 zone
... until the U.S. and Chinese economies show no more
deterioration, which will probably be in the second half of the
year," he said.
China's chief statistics official was quoted as saying in a
newspaper report that the economy might have bottomed out.
[]
Gold may get a lift if North Korea launches a rocket over
the weekend in a move that is widely seen as a disguised
long-range missile test. []
But any gold rally due to the well-flagged event would be
short-lived as geopolitical tension in the region does not
usually heat up, said Nomura's Okoshi said.
"From past experience, North Korea's case always falls into
a deadlock and doesn't go anywhere," he said.
On Thursday, bullion dipped more than 3 percent to a
two-week low of $893.70 as G20 leaders set out a $1.1 trillion
package to help revive the global economy. []
Th G20 also agreed that some money for low-income countries
would be raised by the IMF selling 400 tonnes of gold as
previously planned. []
Traders said that such a sale had been factored in and that
the market could easily accommodate it it would be conducted in
a way that would not cause price fluctuations.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings were unchanged at a
record 1,127.44 tonnes as of April 2. Its holdings climbed to
that amount on March 29. []
Precious metals prices at 0514 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 903.50 0.35 +0.04 8.50
Spot Silver 12.87 -0.03 -0.23 -12.86
Spot Platinum 1141.50 -12.00 -1.04 -24.90
Spot Palladium 219.00 -2.00 -0.90 -40.49
TOCOM Gold 2908.00 -41.00 -1.39 -4.97
28505
TOCOM Platinum 3677.00 37.00 +1.02 -31.13
11885
TOCOM Silver 411.50 -1.00 -0.24 -23.94
276
TOCOM Palladium 719.00 7.00 +0.98 -46.78
631
Euro/Dollar 1.3415
Dollar/Yen 99.62
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Hugh
Lawson and Clarence Fernandez)
