* Dollar edges up but eases off high after poor job data
* Physical buying from jewelers helps support
* Silver slides to year low on growth fears
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity, adds second
byline, dateline, previously LONDON)
By Carole Vaporean and David Sheppard
NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Gold ended a
rollercoaster day slightly higher on Friday after soaring more
than 2 percent as weak U.S. jobs data caused the dollar to
retreat from 11-month highs.
Gold bullion had been down in early trade. But then the
U.S. Labor Department reported a sharper decline in August jobs
creation than experts had expected. The unemployment rate
jumped to a five-year high. []
After the report, the U.S dollar slid against the euro for
the first time in seven sessions, and gold advanced to its
session peak at $819.30 an ounce.
Gold retreated from session highs but spot gold <XAU=>
remained up slightly at $801.10/813.10 an ounce in late trade
compared with $796.15/797.75 at Thursday's close.
COMEX December gold <GCZ8> rose as high as $824.20 during
the session as the dollar weakened after the payrolls report.
Some investors took advantage of currency differentials in
overseas markets; others bought gold as a safe haven against
U.S. economic weakness.
But the dollar edged up in late speculative buying, and
December gold closed down 40 cents an ounce at $802.80 an ounce
on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Labor Department said 84,000 jobs were lost in August,
a greater number than the 75,000 forecast by economists and the
60,000 lost payrolls in July. []
With the price swings in both gold and the dollar, traders
said some investors got caught behind the action.
"This looks like the last battle of the longs to get prices
to rally," said Commerzbank spot-trader Michael Kempinkski.
"A few shorts got caught on the wrong side when prices went
back through $800, so they've had to cover going into the
weekend. With the way the dollar has recovered lately, gold
should really be down around $750 an ounce by now."
The dollar has risen by more than 17 cents against the euro
since slipping to its weakest ever level of $1.6038 in
mid-July.
Gold has fallen from close to $980 an ounce during the same
period, with many analysts saying the dollar's strength or
weakness remains the number one factor in determining the
direction for gold.
Increased physical buying by jewelers in India and the
Middle East at lower price levels has supported prices after
demand was thwarted earlier in the year due to gold's
record-breaking advance. []
But traders said most physical buy orders would not emerge
until prices challenged 11-month lows around $770 an ounce.
Fears of economic slowing hit silver and platinum group
metals, which often trade like industrial metals.
Silver was sold to a 12-month low after the dismal jobs
numbers, traders said. A slide beneath a key technical level
triggered automatic sell orders and a drop to a $12.04 an ounce
low, they added.
Spot silver <XAG=> was down sharply at $12.19/12.27 an
ounce in late New York dealings from Thursday's $12.74/12.80
close.
Platinum dropped on concerns over demand for autocatalysts,
after this week's poor car sales in the United States, prompted
investment funds to sell.
Spot platinum <XPT=> sank to $1,353.00/1373.00 an ounce in
late New York trade, from the late Thursday quote at
$1,391.50/1,411.50 an ounce.
The United States has had 10 straight months of declining
car sales. Autocatalysts, used to clean exhaust fumes, account
for more than half of global platinum use.
Platinum's sister metal palladium <XPD=> dropped to
$267.00/275.00 from $281.50/289.50 per ounce late on Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo; Editing by
David Gregorio)
