* Gold slips on firming dollar
* Oil falls to near four-year lows
* Investors await U.S. payrolls data
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Thursday as
the dollar gained against the euro and worries about demand
weighed on oil, driving investors away from bullion ahead of
the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls data later this week.
Fears of a severe global recession have curbed investors'
appetite for risky assets, while recent terror attacks in India
that killed nearly 200 people failed to stir up safe-haven
buying. Gold was 25 percent below March's record of $1,030.80.
"It seems to me that gold has almost been pushed to the
side a little bit by investors at the moment. I suspect
institutional investor interest is probably pretty tepid," said
David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of
Australia in Sydney.
"Gold hasn't performed as some people thought it might in
the current environment."
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $769.15 an ounce, down $3.45
from New York's notional close, after hitting an intraday high
of $775.35. Gold posted its biggest daily percentage fall in
almost eight weeks on Monday, on falling oil and the firm
dollar.
Oil <CLc1> fell below $46 a barrel to its weakest in nearly
four years as fears of deepening economic woes overshadowed
bullish weekly U.S. oil stocks data. []
Investors awaited the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls
numbers on Friday, which could set the tone for the dollar
after gains in the U.S. currency sparked selling in bullion.
The euro fell to $1.2709 against the dollar <EUR=>.
"I think the data is going to be very important for broader
commodity markets. How it will affect gold, I don't know, but I
suspect we could be waiting for pretty weak payrolls numbers,"
said a dealer in Sydney.
In the physical market, dealers noted buying at lower
levels ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday next week, a key
time for weddings in the Middle East.
"The festival of Eid Al Adha is highly regarded as an ideal
gold buying season and many marriages happen during this time
of the year," said analyst Pradeep Unni at Richcomm Global
Services in Dubai.
"But it's not strong enough to bring in a rally in the gold
prices. Price are too volatile and the general agreement
amongst consumers is that we may still get lower prices."
As investors braced for the payrolls data, the European
Central Bank is seen cutting rates on Thursday, by at least 50
basis points, to 2.75 percent. []
U.S. payrolls probably shed 316,000 jobs in November,
following October's drop of 240,000 jobs, according to
economists polled by Reuters. The unemployment rate is seen
rising to 6.8 percent in November from October's 6.5 percent.
Gold was struggling to sustain gains since falling to a
13-month low of $680.80 in late October. A rebound to a
six-week high around $830 late last month was met by heavy
selling.
Platinum <XPT=> was trading at $791.50 an ounce, down $2.00
from New York's notional close. Platinum has more than halved
since spiking to a lifetime high of $2,290 in March on weaker
gold and oil and recently, dismal car sales.
U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid wants to try to find
a way to avert threatened bankruptcies in the U.S. auto
industry with Detroit Three chief executives readying for a
make-or-break hearing on Thursday on a $34 billion bailout
request. []
More than 60 percent of global platinum use goes to
autocatalysts to clean exhaust fumes.
New York gold futures <GCZ9> fell $0.7 an ounce to $769.8
in electronic trade.
Precious metals prices at 0612 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 769.15 -3.45 -0.45 -7.63
Spot Silver 9.53 -0.10 -1.04 -35.48
Spot Platinum 791.50 -2.00 -0.25 -47.93
Spot Palladium 171.00 0.00 +0.00 -53.53
TOCOM Gold 2292.00 -28.00 -1.21 -25.10
34787
TOCOM Platinum 2381.00 -108.00 -4.34 -55.40
14583
TOCOM Silver 281.30 0.80 +0.29 -48.00
297
TOCOM Palladium 529.00 5.00 +0.95 -60.84
109
Euro/Dollar 1.2685
Dollar/Yen 93.03
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
