* Dollar fall after U.S. jobs data could prop up gold
* SPDR Gold Trust holdings <XAUEXT-NYS-TT> unchanged
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Gold edged down to $960 an ounce on
Friday on caution that an expected improvement in a key U.S. jobs
report later in the day would hurt the precious metal's allure as
a safe haven at a time of economic turbulence.
Economists in a Reuters survey forecast the U.S. Labor
Department report, due at 1230 GMT, will show 320,000 workers
lost their jobs in July, the least for any month since September
and compared with a loss of 467,000 jobs in June. []
But gold's fall may be limited because the dollar could fall
on easing risk aversion if the jobs report restores optimism that
the U.S. economy is on the mend, traders said.
A weaker dollar makes gold, which is priced in dollars, more
attractive for holders of other currencies.
Spot gold <XAU=> was down 0.2 percent at $960.60 an ounce as
of 0340 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of $962.15.
Earlier on Thursday it rallied as high as $971.25, its
highest since June 5, on inflation worries as the Bank of England
stunned markets with a big increase in bond buying to stimulate
the economy.
Global monetary easing, combined with the recent fall in the
dollar, have propped up gold after the metal was pressured by
deflation fears earlier this year.
Bullion is poised to rise 0.7 percent on the week, marking
the fourth straight week of gains as it recovered from a July
trough of $905.80.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> edged up to
$963.40 an ounce. The contract fell $3.40 to $962.90 on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday.
"Everybody is looking for the report tonight," said Dick
Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong,
referring to the U.S. jobs report for July.
A market consensus that the July report will show an
improvement, together with the fairly high price of gold in a
historic context, means gold could extend its consolidation
before investors step in to buy at around $950, he said.
"But improvement for one or two months isn't enough ... Gold
is still a safe haven," he said.
Even if the U.S. jobs data is as expected and gold falls
after it, another focus lies on how currencies react to the data,
said Tatsufumi Okoshi, a senior economist at Nomura Securities.
"Bullish U.S. economic data often triggers a sell-off in the
dollar ... If so, there's a chance that a weaker dollar will make
gold resilient," Okoshi said.
In the currency market, the dollar edged lower against a
basket of currencies <.DXY> in early Asian trade. []
The euro was almost flat at $1.4350 <EUR=>, off its high for
this year above $1.44 marked earlier this week.
But activity was subdued as investors largely stayed on the
sidelines ahead of the U.S. jobs data.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings stood at 1,072.87 tonnes as
of Aug. 6, unchanged since July 29. []
Precious metals prices at 0017 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 960.70 -1.45 -0.15 9.15
Spot Silver 14.50 -0.04 -0.28 28.09
Spot Platinum 1250.50 -9.50 -0.75 34.17
Spot Palladium 268.00 -1.50 -0.56 45.26
TOCOM Gold 2953.00 -5.00 -0.17 14.77 28181
TOCOM Platinum 3839.00 -103.00 -2.61 44.76 13406
TOCOM Silver 444.50 -3.60 -0.80 39.21 437
TOCOM Palladium 820.00 -30.00 -3.53 49.09 520
Euro/Dollar 1.4358
Dollar/Yen 95.30
(Editing by Michael Watson)
