* Dollar firms vs euro ahead of expected ECB rate cut
* Traders eye U.S. data, central bank rate cuts for impetus
* U.S. November car sales tumble 37 pct
(Recasts, adds detail, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Wednesday as the
dollar firmed against the euro, denting the metal's appeal as a
currency hedge, with traders awaiting a raft of key economic
news due later this week.
A spate of interest rate decisions, including that of the
European Central Bank on Thursday, are set to influence the
currency markets, and key U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers will be
released on Friday.
Spot gold <XAU=> slipped to $773.05/775.05 an ounce at 1000
GMT from $781.50 an ounce in New York late on Tuesday.
"This is a big week for news, and a lot of people will be on
the sidelines ahead of that," Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at
MKS Finance, said. "This is going to be a very illiquid market."
Gold is often bought as an alternative investment to the
dollar and typically moves in the opposite direction to the U.S.
currency. The dollar strengthened against the euro on Wednesday
as traders bet on a euro zone rate cut. []
The currency markets remain jittery ahead of rate
announcements from the ECB, the Bank of England and the Reserve
Bank of New Zealand on Thursday.
Gold shrugged off a move higher in oil prices, with
inflation fears tempered by crude's sharp dip at the beginning
of this week.
U.S. crude futures are currently up on the day, but are
trading some 13 percent below the level they hit early on
Monday. Traders are awaiting U.S. stockpiles data due later in
the session. []
Physical offtake of gold is also slowing, traders said. In
India, the world's largest bullion market, domestic gold buying
declined as well-stocked traders awaited further price falls.
"We have many buy orders at $750 (an ounce) levels," a
dealer at a Mumbai bank said. []
Among other precious metals, spot silver <XAG=> tracked gold
lower to $9.38/9.46 an ounce from $9.54.
CAR SALES TUMBLE
Platinum prices rose, recovering some of this week's up to
10 percent losses. The metal slipped sharply on fears over
falling sales by automakers, the main consumers of platinum used
to make autocatalysts.
Data released on Tuesday showed U.S. car sales tumbled
nearly 37 percent in November, the 13th consecutive month of
falls, to their lowest level since 1982.
Sales at GM <GM.N> and Chrysler fell 41 percent and 47
percent respectively in November. Carmakers said there was no
sign demand would rebound in the next six months. []
However, with platinum having already fallen two-thirds from
the highs it hit in March and much of the bad news already
priced in, the market showed little reaction to the news.
"The platinum group metals market has come to expect the
worse, and much of this bearish news has been priced in
already," Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet said.
A top lawmaker predicted Washington will approve a bailout
plan for U.S. automakers after they submitted survival plans to
Congress, and both GM and Chrysler said they needed an immediate
cash injection to avoid failure. []
Spot platinum <XPT=> rose to $803.50/823.50 an ounce from
$796 late on Friday, while its sister metal palladium <XPD=> was
little changed at $171/176 an ounce against $169.
A Reuters survey showed platinum, palladium and silver are
expected to record sharp price falls in 2009 as demand sags in
line with economic growth. []
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; editing by Sue Thomas)
