* Gold down as dollar broadly gains traction
* US data watched for dollar direction, payrolls in focus
* SPDR holdings up on Wednesday, first rise since Sept. 21
(Recasts, updates with comments, closing prices, market
activity, adds second byline, dateline)
By Frank Tang and Veronica Brown
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold dipped to $1,000 an
ounce on Thursday, buckling as the dollar rose broadly, but
moves were limited with investors playing a waiting game ahead
of Friday's key U.S. non-farm payrolls data.
Analysts said that even though prices had eased, the market
still seemed to be showing some resilience despite Thursday's
dollar strength -- staying above key support at $1,000 after
recent sharp losses towards the $984 region.
"Most people have been expecting some kind of correction as
that's what has happened when the market has gone over $1,000.
We're now left wondering whether the recent drop was it," said
Matthew Turner, analyst at VM Group in London.
With currency movements seen as the main driver, major
direction should come in the wake of dollar reaction to
economic data, including Friday's key non-farm payrolls
report.
U.S. December gold futures <GCZ9> settled down $8.60 at
$1,000.70 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,001.05 at 2:35 p.m. EDT (1835
GMT), versus $1,006.70 late in New York on Wednesday.
The dollar held onto earlier gains against a basket of
major currencies <.DXY> after weekly figures showed the number
of U.S. workers filing claims for jobless benefits rose last
week. []
Dollar strength tends to make dollar-priced gold less
attractive to non-U.S. investors. The dollar index was last up
0.7 percent.
UNEASE?
Overall dollar weakness, concerns about potential inflation
and technical momentum saw gold prices rise some 8.7 percent in
the three months to September, producing its strongest
performance since the first quarter of 2008.
The latest rally also took prices to within a few dollars
of the March 2008 record high at $1,030.80.
Open interest in the COMEX gold market had been rising in
September, and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also
made precious metals more appealing to risk-averse investors,
said George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets Global
Futures.
But while investors have been happy to go with current
momentum, some unease remains over the market's fundamental
picture and the extent of speculative long positioning in the
gold futures market.
"Macro-wise, I can't see any significant reasons supporting
gold. The data seems to still suggest that we're in quite a
significant deflationary environment," said David Wilson,
metals analyst at SocGen in London.
On investment, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings
rose 1.22 tonnes to 1,095.327 tonnes on Wednesday. []
It was the first rise since Sept. 21, when the holdings
rose by 15.256 tonnes to top 1,100 tonnes on a fall in gold
prices to around $995 per ounce.
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> fell to $16.45
from $16.59, while platinum <XPT=> fell to $1,277.50 from
$1,295.50 and palladium <XPD=> eased to $288 from $293.50.
Platinum group metals, which are mainly consumed by the
auto industry as catalytic converters, were pressured after
U.S. auto makers reported sharply lower sales in September
absent the popular "Cash for Clunkers" program.
Close Change Pct 2008 YTD
Chg Close % Chg
US gold <GCZ9> 1000.70 -8.6 -0.9 884.3 13.2
US silver <SIZ9> 16.440 -0.218 -1.3 11.295 45.6
US platinum <PLF0> 1289.30 -13.60 -1.0 941.50 36.9
US palladium <PAZ9> 292.95 -6.25 -2.1 188.70 55.2
Prices at 2:35 p.m. EDT (1835 GMT)
Gold <XAU=> 1000.95 -5.75 -0.6 878.20 14.0
Silver <XAG=> 16.46 -0.13 -0.8 11.30 45.7
Platinum <XPT=> 1277.50 -18.00 -1.4 924.50 38.2
Palladium <XPD=> 288.00 -5.500 -1.9 184.50 56.1
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1004.75 -1.00 -0.1 836.50 20.1
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 16.55 10.00 0.6 14.76 12.1
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1292.00 2.00 0.2 1529 -15.5
Palladium Fix<XPDFIX=> 293.00 2.00 0.7 365.0 -19.7
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda in Tokyo; Editing by
Marguerita Choy)
