* 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
decline 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 $960.65 an ounce as
of 0523 GMT, compared with New York's notional close of $962.15.
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> were almost
flat at $963.0 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 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 0526 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 960.20 -1.95 -0.20 9.10
Spot Silver 14.54 0.00 +0.00 28.45
Spot Platinum 1250.00 -10.00 -0.79 34.12
Spot Palladium 267.50 -2.00 -0.74 44.99
TOCOM Gold 2953.00 -5.00 -0.17 14.77 31025
TOCOM Platinum 3841.00 -101.00 -2.56 44.83 15629
TOCOM Silver 447.10 -1.00 -0.22 40.03 457
TOCOM Palladium 824.00 -26.00 -3.06 49.82 560
Euro/Dollar 1.4354
Dollar/Yen 95.35
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Michael
Watson)
