(Repeats to add dropped letter in summary)
* Gold to consolidate in $1,360-$1,380/oz
* Gold may drop to $1,355 - technicals []
* Coming up: euro zone business climate; 1000 GMT
(Adds details, comments; updates prices)
By Edward Lane
SINGAPORE, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Spot gold edged lower on
Thursday, under pressure from a stronger dollar and thinning
safe-haven demand following optimistic U.S. private payroll
data, but robust physical buying limited losses.
Private employers added 297,000 jobs last month, payrolls
processing company ADP Employer Services said on Wednesday.
It was the largest gain on ADP records dating to 2000. The
ADP report, ahead of government employment data due on Friday,
added to growing evidence that the world's largest economy is
on the path to recovery. []
"Recent U.S. data has been very positive, weighing on gold
prices," said Hou Xinqiang, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in
China.
"In addition, there hasn't been any new momentum pushing
gold above the record level. If we don't see any drastically
bad news on the macroeconomic front, gold's performance might
be lackluster in the short term."
Spot gold lost 0.1 percent to $1,375.8 an ounce by
0327 GMT, after falling to a three-week low of $1,363.8 in the
previous session.
U.S. gold futures gained 0.2 percent to $1,376.2.
Spot gold is expected to zigzag down towards $1,355
per ounce as a wave "5" has not to developed for the
completion of a five-wave cycle, said Wang Tao, a Reuters
market analyst. []
For a 24-hour gold technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20110601091236.jpg
But the downside is limited by bargain hunting on the
physical market, dealers said.
"We see very good physical demand help pushing gold from
below $1,370 to the current level," said a Hong Kong-based
dealer.
Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls number is expected to show
a rise of 140,000 in December, following a recent bout of
numbers showing signs of steady recovery in the world's
largest economy.
The dollar was steady on Thursday, maintaining overnight
gains, and could strengthen more after strong private
employment data lifted expectations for Friday's U.S. payrolls
number.
"If the payrolls data meets or exceeds expectations, it
will have some pressure on gold in the short term. But this
year gold is still on uptrend," said the dealer, adding that
gold is likely to consolidate in the range of $1,360 to $1,380.
Looming large for the market is the index rebalancing
period, due to start later this week, when index funds
invested in commodities add risk to under-exposed markets and
pare back from overly-weighted commodities.
For a factbox on commodity index rebalancing in 2011,
click []
Silver, which rose by more than 80 percent in 2010, might
go under pressure from the rebalancing act, for the short term.
Spot silver gained 0.4 percent to $29.36 an ounce,
recovering from a three-week low of $28.57 in the previous
session.
Spot palladium lost 0.3 percent to $770.75, up from
a 1-1/2 week low of $746.08 hit on Wednesday.
Precious metals prices 0327 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1375.80 -1.85 -0.13 -3.08
Spot Silver 29.36 0.12 +0.41 -4.86
Spot Platinum 1735.24 8.74 +0.51 -1.83
Spot Palladium 770.75 -2.25 -0.29 -3.60
TOCOM Gold 3697.00 32.00 +0.87 -0.86 42401
TOCOM Platinum 4716.00 70.00 +1.51 0.43 15174
TOCOM Silver 78.90 0.40 +0.51 -2.59 1344
TOCOM Palladium 2069.00 11.00 +0.53 -1.34 765
Euro/Dollar 1.3131
Dollar/Yen 83.25
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
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