Gold held near its weakest in a week on Friday as cautious investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the release of US payrolls report, which could revive hopes of a third round of US Federal Reserve bond buying.
Market expectations for Friday's non-farm payrolls report have fallen this week, with dealers now suspecting the economy added 125,000 to 150,000 jobs in April, below a Reuters consensus forecast of 170,000.
Fundamentals
Gold hardly changed at $1,635.26 an ounce by 0029 GMT, having dropped on Thursday to its lowest since April 25 at $1,630.70 after US data showed services employment declined in April to its lowest level since December.
US gold added $1.10 an ounce to $1,635.90.
In theory, a weaker-than-expected gain in US payrolls could send the dollar lower as it would raise expectations of a third round of quantitative easing, boosting gold's safe-haven appeal.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged euro zone governments to agree a growth strategy to go hand in hand with fiscal discipline, but as thousands of Spaniards protested in the streets he gave no sign the bank would do more to address people's fears about the economy.