Gold little changed amid steady dollar ahead of U.S. jobs report

By Arpan Varghese

REUTERS - Gold prices traded in a narrow range on Friday, below the previous session's high, as the dollar steadied amid caution ahead of U.S. jobs data later in the day.

Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,275.82 per ounce at 0657 GMT, and was on track for its first weekly gain in three. It hit its highest in about two weeks at $1,284.10 in the previous session.

U.S. gold for December delivery dipped 0.1 percent to $1,276.50.

The dollar held steady versus a basket of currencies on Friday, as focus shifted to U.S. jobs data, with President Donald Trump's nomination of Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell to be the next Fed chair coming as no surprise.

The greenback had slipped on Thursday after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives released proposals to overhaul the tax code. [USD/]

Asian share markets edged higher on Friday as investors gave a guarded reception to the plans for massive U.S. tax cuts, while welcoming the appointment of a centrist at the helm of the Fed.

A holiday in Japan kept volumes light, while investors observed the usual caution ahead of the U.S. payrolls report which is expected to show a big bounce back from September's hurricane-hit result.

"Gold seems to be broadly flat. The announcement of Jerome Powell as the new Fed Chair was broadly in line with expectations," said John Sharma, an economist with National Australia Bank.

"Markets are waiting for the U.S. payrolls data. A strong result here would not be supportive of gold."

Trump's appointment of Powell broke with precedent by denying Janet Yellen a second term but signalling a continuation of her cautious monetary policies.

"The general trend for gold over the last week has been positive, but the market will need to find a catalyst within the host of data released tonight to push through the strong resistance at $1280," MKS PAMP analyst Tim Brown wrote in a note.

"On the downside, we should see close support at the 100-day moving average at $1,275."

Spot gold looks neutral in a narrow range of $1,263-$1,281 per ounce, and an escape could suggest a direction, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

In other precious metals, spot silver inched 0.1 percent lower to $17.09 an ounce and platinum eased 0.3 percent to $921.74 while palladium was up 0.1 percent at $997.

(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin and Vyas Mohan)