* Silver off Friday peak
* Dollar on the defensive after U.S. payrolls
* Coming Up: Euro zone Sentix index for September; 0830
GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
SINGAPORE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Gold inched down on Monday as
stock markets firmed on optimism the U.S. economy would not
fall back into recession, while a slight drop in ETF holdings
put additional pressure.
Bullion was likely to trade in a tight $10 range, with U.S.
investors away for the Labor Day holiday, while silver <XAG=>
backtracked after rallying to its strongest since March 2008 on
Friday as investors booked profits and ETF holdings dropped.
Spot gold <XAU=> eased 14 cents to $1,247.90 an ounce by
0159 GMT, having fallen as low as $1,235.70 on Friday on a U.S.
labor market report that was much less weak than feared. Gold
struck a lifetime high around $1,264 an ounce in late June.
"I am actually just expecting gold to trade between $1,240
and $1,250 region. It's just a bit of a range bound between
these two levels," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at
Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"I would still expect gold to be supported as it was able
to rebound quite sharply from its session low about $1,235 all
the way to $1,245 level. The ISM non-manufacturing data was
actually not as good."
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> fell $1.9 to
$1,249.2 an ounce.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings slipped to 1,294.442
tonnes by Sept 3 from 1,294.908 tonnes on Sept 2. The holdings
surged to a record 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29. []
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its holdings dropped to
9,276.73 tonnes by Sept. 3 from 9,280.40 tonnes on Sept. 1.
[]
Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.9 percent on Monday, rising
for a fourth day, after U.S. stocks gained as data showing
fewer-than-expected U.S. job losses helped ease fears the
American economy is on the cusp of a new recession. [] []
U.S. non-farm payrolls fell 54,000, the Labor Department
said, a much smaller drop than the predicted 100,000. Private
employment, considered a better gauge of labour market health,
increased 67,000. []
An industry report showed the U.S. non-manufacturing sector
grew in August for an eighth straight month, but at a slower
pace than July and at a rate that was below expectations.
[]
The dollar was on the defensive on Monday after firm U.S.
payrolls data last week eased market anxiety over chances of a
double-dip recession and boosted demand for the euro and
growth-leveraged currencies. []
Precious metals prices at 0159 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1247.90 -0.14 -0.01 13.89
Spot Silver 19.80 -0.07 -0.35 17.65
Spot Platinum 1560.50 7.10 +0.46 6.37
Spot Palladium 527.50 0.82 +0.16 30.09
TOCOM Gold 3395.00 -2.00 -0.06 4.17
16487
TOCOM Platinum 4260.00 33.00 +0.78 -2.76
9253
TOCOM Silver 54.20 0.80 +1.50 4.84
557
TOCOM Palladium 1438.00 19.00 +1.34 23.43
162
Euro/Dollar 1.2889
Dollar/Yen 84.38
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
