Gold near 2-month low as investors wait for U.S. jobs data

By Sethuraman N R

(Reuters) - Gold held near its lowest in over two months on Thursday, with investors waiting for data on U.S. jobs the next day for clues on the timing of a possible interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

"With Friday's U.S. payrolls data looming large, we are seeing ranges tighten (for gold) and skew to the downside as anticipation builds for a potential September interest rate hike," said Sam Laughlin, precious metals trader with MKS PAMP Group.

But he added that prices would unlikely break below $1,300 an ounce until Friday's payrolls release.

Spot gold had slipped 0.1 percent to $1,306.81 per ounce by 0709 GMT. It touched its lowest since June 24 at $1,304.91 an ounce on Wednesday.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,310.10.

"Technicals show that gold and silver prices need some correction and will see some mild rebound. But, Friday's jobs data is going to be crucial," said Jiang Shu, chief analyst at Shandong Gold Group.

"If the jobs data is going to be good, gold will fall to $1,260-$1,270 levels as markets will hope for a rate hike in September."

An upbeat payrolls report would reinforce the view that a U.S. rate hike may be on the cards, after Fed officials sounded a hawkish note at a meeting last weekend.

On Wednesday, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said the Fed should consider that quicker interest rate rises over time could stave off risks to the economy, while Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said he is increasingly convinced that U.S. economic growth has slowed permanently.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar in which it is priced.

Spot gold may retest support at $1,306, with a good chance of breaking below this level and falling more to the next support at $1,301, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, posted the first monthly dip in August in four months. They fell 1.27 percent to 943.23 tonnes on Wednesday and were down 1.6 percent for the month. [GOL/ETF]

Silver was up 0.4 percent at $18.69 an ounce.

Platinum rose slightly to $1,051. It touched a fresh eight-week low of $1,043.20 Wednesday.

Palladium was up 0.7 percent at $674, after falling to a near six-week low of $665.97.

(Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin and Joseph Radford)