SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold slid for a third straight session on Friday as equities and the dollar firmed after sharp losses, while traders awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls data to gauge the strength of the economy and its impact on the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold eased 0.1 percent to $1,182.88 an ounce by 0046 GMT, after losing 0.6 percent in the previous session. So far this week, gold is up 0.4 percent.
* The nonfarm payrolls report is closely watched as it provides a good reading of the health of the economy. That could in turn provide clues as to when the U.S. central bank would begin to hike rates from record lows.
* Strong data could prompt the Fed to raise rates soon, a move that would hurt demand for non-interest-paying bullion. Gold prices could take a further hit from a strong report.
* Analysts polled by Reuters expect nonfarm payrolls to increase by 224,000 in April after the meagre 126,000 increase in the prior month.
* The possibility of a strong jobs report was also reinforced by Thursday's data on weekly claims for unemployment benefits, which held near a 15-year low last week in a sign that the labour market was strengthening.
* The dollar got a boost from the strong data, hurting gold's safe-haven appeal. Also hurting the precious metal was the stability in bond and equity markets on Thursday, following a sharp sell-off.
* Reflecting investor anxiety, data showed holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.36 percent to 739.07 tonnes on Thursday.
* In other industry news, lower prices and a stronger dollar helped lift U.S. imports of gold, silver and platinum jewellery by as much as 15 percent in the first quarter of 2015, according to Thomson Reuters GFMS calculations released on Thursday.
* Platinum producer Lonmin is in talks with unions and employees to cut 3,500 jobs at its mines in South Africa, it said on Thursday, highlighting the pressure of low prices on the industry.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin)
