* U.S. non-farm payrolls for November miss expectations
* Dollar slips, stocks turn negative after U.S. jobs data
* Global platinum market seen in surplus in 2011-GFMS
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Elizabeth Fullerton and Jan Harvey
LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Gold jumped above $1,400 an ounce
to a three-week high on Friday after U.S. jobs data disappointed
the markets, knocking the dollar index down 1 percent and
dampening expectations for a self-sustaining recovery.
U.S. employment increased by far less than expected in
November and the jobless rate jumped to a seven-month high of
9.8 percent, the data showed. []
Spot gold <XAU=> rose to a high of $1,402.27 an ounce and
was bid at $1,399.00 an ounce at 1408 GMT, against $1,384.75
late in New York on Thursday. U.S. gold futures for December
delivery <GCZ0> rose $11.70 an ounce to $1,399.30.
"(The data) indicates we are not out of the woods yet in
terms of what direction the U.S. economy is going to be
heading," said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.
"We saw a lift in gold and that probably stems from the
continued recovery of the euro against the dollar. The dollar's
seen some weakness here after the number, and that's just given
gold the opportunity to test back through the $1,400 level,
which has been a bit of a resistance point all week."
The dollar slumped more than 1 percent versus the yen and
extended losses versus the euro on Friday after the data, while
European shares and U.S. stock futures turned negative. []
[] []
U.S. Treasury prices rose on Friday, erasing earlier losses,
after the disappointing November payroll report. []
"(The data) will definitely lead to dollar weakness today
and over the next few days," said Nick Bennenbroek, a currency
strategist at Wells Fargo. "The dollar was having a good run the
last several weeks, though we saw a turn lately as European
concerns have eased slightly.
"But a softer-than-expected jobs number probably makes
people a little more comfortable with the idea that the Fed will
steadily progress with its planned quantitative easing."
EURO ZONE CONCERNS LINGER
Gold is also supported by lingering concerns that the euro
zone debt crisis could spread to Spain and Portugal.
Spain's Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Friday Spain
would not be the next in line for a rescue package from Europe.
"The underlying issues haven't really been resolved and
there's a general view that one way of resolving them is for the
ECB to have a more accommodating monetary policy which is gold
supportive," said Mitsubishi analyst Matthew Turner.
Gold does well in a low interest environment, as this cuts
the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing assets.
On the investment side of the market, the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said its
holdings rose to 1,298.447 tonnes by Dec 2 from 1,293.891 tonnes
on Dec 1.
The world's largest silver ETF, the Shares Silver Trust,
said its holdings slipped to 10,778.68 tonnes by Dec 2 from
10,782.69 tonnes on Dec 1.
Metals consultancy GFMS forecast silver would average around
$30 an ounce in 2011, peaking at $35, while gold would peak at
some $1,600-1,650 an ounce, and average $1,400.
It expected global platinum market to see a surplus of about
25 tonnes in 2010, which will continue to pressure prices.
Silver tracked gold higher, trading at $28.89 an ounce
against $28.51 late on Thursday, while platinum rose to
$1,716.99 from $1,708.49 an ounce.
Palladium gave up modest early gains to trade down 0.4
percent at $756.22, after touching 9-year highs on Thursday.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
