* Friday's US jobs data awaited to gauge economic outlook
* Gold mkt also looking to U.S. stocks for incentives
* SPDR Gold holdings unchanged at 1,111.922 tonnes
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Tuesday, paring the
previous day's sharp gains, with selling partly attributed to
firmness in the dollar after Australia's central bank surprised
markets by leaving its interest rates unchanged.
Bullion had rallied on Monday by more than $25, or over 2
percent, after data showed the U.S. manufacturing sector grew in
January at a faster rate than expected, suggesting an improving
outlook for the economy and inflationary pressures ahead.
[]
But investors became cautious and were mostly taking a
wait-and-see attitude ahead of a key U.S. jobs report due later
this week to gauge prospects for the U.S. economy and the dollar.
"People are thinking of inflation, and this has created a
situation that makes it difficult to sell gold," which is
traditionally used as a hedge against inflation, said Kazuhiko
Saito, chief analyst at Tokyo's Fujitomi Co Ltd.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,101.70 an ounce at 0557 GMT, down
0.3 percent from New York's notional close of $1,105.30, after
earlier falling as low as $1,098.60.
On Monday it rose as high as $1,107.50, its highest since
Jan. 21.
In the currency market, the euro <EUR=> briefly fell below
$1.39 soon after Australia's surprise decision on interest rates,
but later returned to levels little changed from late Monday in
New York. []
Investors are now turning their attention to the U.S. monthly
employment data, due on Friday, for further clues on the health
of the economy, Saito said.
Economists polled by Reuters are looking for a slim gain in
U.S. payrolls in January, though it is not expected to be enough
to put a dent in the 10 percent unemployment rate.
[]
"People are expecting strong figures from the employment
data, but it could turn out to be a case of selling on the news,"
Saito said.
He said the gold market was also looking to the New York
stock market for direction, because it reflects the economic
outlook.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday as the better-than-expected data
on the manufacturing sector and earnings from Exxon Mobil revived
bullish sentiment after stocks closed out their worst month in
almost a year. []
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> fell 0.2 percent
to $1,102.80 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX.
A solid economic recovery would also help boost platinum and
palladium, which rose on Monday after the manufacturing data, due
to their industrial application in auto catalysts.
Spot platinum <XPT=> was down 0.5 percent at $1,541 per
ounce. Spot palladium <XPD=> was at $426.25 per ounce, down 0.5
percent from $428.50 in New York.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,111.922 tonnes as
of Feb. 1, unchanged since Jan. 19. []
The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the
iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its silver holdings stood at
9,355.98 tonnes as of Feb. 1, down 0.3 percent from the previous
business day. []
PRICES
Precious metals prices at 0558 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1101.70 -3.60 -0.33 0.55
Spot Silver 16.59 -0.05 -0.30 -1.43
Spot Platinum 1540.50 -8.00 -0.52 5.01
Spot Palladium 426.75 -1.75 -0.41 5.24
TOCOM Gold 3225.00 85.00 +2.71 -1.04 80307
TOCOM Platinum 4487.00 113.00 +2.58 2.42 18898
TOCOM Silver 49.10 1.60 +3.37 -5.03 727
TOCOM Palladium 1242.00 40.00 +3.33 6.61 544
Euro/Dollar 1.3922
Dollar/Yen 90.74
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)
