Gold near five-week low before U.S. jobs data, eyes third weekly dip

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold was hovering near its lowest in five weeks on Friday, and was on track for a third straight weekly slide, as robust U.S. economic data bolstered expectations of an interest rate hike this year.

Traders were awaiting the critical U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the day for more clues about the economy and how it would impact the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.

Spot gold ticked up slightly to $1,177.80 an ounce by 0037 GMT, but wasn't too far from a five-week low of $1,172.55 hit in the previous session.

For the week, the metal is down about 1 percent.

Data on Thursday showed that U.S. nonfarm productivity fell more sharply than initially thought in the first quarter, while other data showed the labour market tightening.

All eyes are on Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, a key barometer of the world's largest economy. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have expanded to 225,000 in May from 223,000 in April.

Strong data would keep the Fed on track to raise interest rates later this year, a move that could diminish demand for non-interest-paying bullion.

Investors were also eyeing developments over the Greek debt crisis for possible safe-haven demand for bullion.

Athens delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund due on Friday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, facing fury among his leftist supporters, demanded changes to tough terms from international creditors for aid to stave off default.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York-listed SPDR Gold Shares, is no longer one of the top 10 U.S.-listed ETFs by value, according to data from FactSet.

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(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin)