Gold prices steady; U.S. nonfarm payroll data awaited

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices were steady in early Asian trade on Friday, after rising about 1.5 percent in the previous session, while the dollar inched up ahead of the U.S. payrolls data due later in the day.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold > was steady at $1,232.72 per ounce, as of 0116 GMT. Prices climbed to their highest since Oct. 26 at $1,237.39 per ounce on Thursday after falling for three days in a row.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.4 percent at $1,233.8 per ounce.

The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1 percent.

 

According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls probably rebounded by 190,000 jobs in October after Florence depressed restaurant and retail payrolls in September.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping both expressed optimism on Thursday about resolving their bitter trade disputes ahead of a high-stakes meeting planned for the two leaders at the end of November in Argentina.

Trump increased economic pressure on Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday with new sanctions aimed at disrupting the South American country's gold exports.

The U.S. economy is expanding at a 3.0 percent annualised rate in the fourth quarter, following the latest data on manufacturing activity and construction spending, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast model showed on Thursday.

The UK and the European Union have made progress on a deal to give London's dominant financial centre basic access to EU markets after Brexit, two British officials said, but no agreement has yet been clinched.

SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.90 percent to 760.82 tonnes on Thursday from 754.06 tonnes on Wednesday.

Global demand for gold rose slightly in the third quarter compared to the same period a year ago as resurgent buying from central banks and retail consumers balanced huge outflows from exchange traded funds, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Indian gold demand in 2018 is expected to fall from the previous year as a rally in local prices to five-year highs is likely to dent purchases during key festivals in the December quarter, (WGC) said on Thursday.

Sales of gold and silver products by the Perth Mint fell in October, the mint said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)