Gold falls for fourth straight session on dollar rebound

By Clara Denina

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold fell for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, edging further away from a 15-month peak as the dollar rebounded on optimism the U.S. economy could bounce back after nearly stalling in the first quarter.

Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. services sector expanded in April as new orders and employment accelerated.

However, another report showed U.S. private employers hired the fewest workers in three years in April.

"Gold is likely to hold in the current range between $1,250 and $1,300 until the end of the quarter, when we will have more clarity about the Fed's interest rates path," Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said.

"We need a streak of positive data points from the U.S., which I'm not expecting this quarter, due to the impact of global growth weakness."

Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,276.40 an ounce by 0941 GMT, extending a 1.1 percent fall over the past three sessions. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,281.10.

Gold jumped to a 15-month top of $1,303.60 on Monday as the dollar slumped against the yen after the Bank of Japan stood pat on policy, before recovering.

The metal has risen 21 percent this year as expectations faded that the Fed would push ahead with interest rate hikes.

Gold is sensitive to interest rates and returns on other assets as rising rates lift the opportunity cost of holding it.

"The rally has stalled, but not reversed. But it may still be in for further near term losses," HSBC said in a note.

"The bullion market will continue to monitor Fed policy and likely be affected by statements from policymakers."

The metal was dented by stronger European equities, signalling higher investor appetite for risk.

Investor interest in gold remains robust. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.07 percent to 825.54 tonnes on Wednesday, their highest in over two years.

Among other precious metals, silver was unchanged at$17.33 an ounce, platinum fell 0.1 percent to $1,054.96 and palladium was up 0.5 percent at $601.

(Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Singapore; Editing by David Evans)