Gold firm above $1,250; but stock rally curbs demand

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold was firm above $1,250 an ounce on Monday after U.S. jobs data matched expectations, while a rally in stocks curbed the metal's appeal as an investment hedge.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was trading flat at $1,252.51 an ounce by 0021 GMT, after losing less than 0.1 percent on Friday.

U.S. employment returned to its pre-recession peak in May, with a solid pace of hiring that offered confirmation the economy has snapped back from a winter slump. Nonfarm payrolls increased 217,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday.

With no major data scheduled for Monday, markets are likely to look towards investment and consumer demand for further cues.

Hedge funds and money managers cut their bullish bets in gold futures and options in the week to June 3 to their lowest level since mid-January, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday.

Among other precious metals, platinum and palladium gained.

South African mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi said on Saturday he had "done enough work" in mediating between the AMCU union and the world's top three platinum firms and he believed the two sides would resolve a five-month strike in talks on Monday.

MARKET NEWS

* Global equity markets and the dollar rose on Friday, with U.S. stocks closing at record highs.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Joseph Radford)