* CME raises NYMEX palladium margins by 25 pct
* Gold may fall to $1,374 next week - technicals
* Coming up: U.S. employment report, Feb; 1330 GMT
(Adds detail, comments; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, March 4 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Friday, consolidating after falling more than 1 percent in the
previous session, as investors await a key U.S. job market
report to assess the health of the world's top economy.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, due at 1330 GMT, is expected to
show a strong increase in new jobs. It will come at the heel of
upbeat weekly jobless claims data on Thursday.
"If the payrolls data surprises on the downside, gold prices
will continue to be supported," said a Tokyo-based trader. "If
it is better than expected, it may put some pressure on prices."
Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent at $1,417.89 an ounce
by 0316 GMT, poised for a minor gain of 0.6 percent after a
choppy week.
U.S. gold futures also inched up 0.2 percent at
$1,418.60 an ounce.
Price of bullion fell by as much as 2 percent during a
cross-commodity sell-off sparked by falls in oil following news
of a proposed Venezuelan-brokered peace plan for Libya.
That news sent Brent crude oil prices falling by
more than $3 dollars in around an hour, before paring about half
the loss on analyst scepticism about the success of such a plan.
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Gold is seen consolidating around current levels, as
investors who hold bullish views on bullion take advantage of
the price fall in the previous session.
"Inflationary fears globally will remain for the medium-long
term, especially as inflation in large developing economies such
as China, India and Brazil is already running high," said Li
Ning, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures.
She warned, however, some correction could take place after
gold's strong rally over the past month or so. But, she said,
gold should find strong support at the $1,400 level.
Technical analysis showed that gold might be embarking on a
correction which could extend to $1,374 next week, according to
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
The euro was steady versus the dollar on Friday after
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet dropped a bombshell on markets
Thursday explicitly saying an interest rate hike at the next
meeting is possible, sending the single currency to a near four
month high.
A "twenty or thirty basis point hike in interest rates is
unlikely to tame inflation," said the Tokyo-based trader.
He added that the market was looking for signs whether the
United States would complete the second phase of quantitative
easing, cut it short, or even launch a third round of debt
purchases.
Spot palladium fell 0.8 percent at $805.47 an ounce,
after the CME Group announced it will raise the margin
requirements on NYMEX-traded palladium <0#PA:> by 25 percent,
effective after the close of business on March 4.
The most active NYMEX palladium declined 0.7 percent
at $809.4.
Precious metals prices 0316 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1417.89 2.30 +0.16 -0.11
Spot Silver 34.38 0.21 +0.61 11.41
Spot Platinum 1830.74 7.25 +0.40 3.58
Spot Palladium 805.47 -6.53 -0.80 0.75
TOCOM Gold 3766.00 1.00 +0.03 0.99 53646
TOCOM Platinum 4919.00 32.00 +0.65 4.75 12935
TOCOM Silver 90.80 0.50 +0.55 12.10 818
TOCOM Palladium 2154.00 -5.00 -0.23 2.72 455
COMEX GOLD APR1 1418.60 2.20 +0.16 -0.20 5237
COMEX SILVER MAY1 34.40 0.07 +0.21 11.18 1727
Euro/Dollar 1.3951
Dollar/Yen 82.36
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Editing by Ed Lane)
Reuters
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