Gold steadies near 13-month high before US jobs data

Gold steadied on Friday, after hitting its highest level in more than a year on a softer dollar, as traders awaited US payrolls data for further clues on monetary policy.

Weak numbers in the payrolls data, due at 1330 GMT, may further dampen expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again this year, benefiting non-yielding gold.

Spot gold was at $1,264.96 an ounce at 1216 GMT, up 0.1% but well off an earlier high of $1,274.70 an ounce, its strongest since February last year. US gold futures for April delivery were up 0.6% at $1,266.10.

Read more from our special coverage on "GOLD"

• Government to issue gold bonds on March 29
• Gold climbs on positive global cues, jewellers buying
• Gold futures decline by 0.4% on profit-booking
• Gold regains Rs 29K-level on global cues, wedding season demand
• Gold imports surge 85% as consumers look to beat economic slowdown

The metal has risen 20% this year as volatility in equities and oil prices picked up, prompting investors to buy bullion as a haven from risk. A 0.3% drop in the dollar versus the euro helped support gold on Friday.

"In the last 24 hours or so, gold has cleared the ($1,250 an ounce) hurdle and triggered additional buying," Simon Weeks, head of precious metals at ScotiaMocatta, said.

"People's focus has come back towards gold as a safe haven for the first time in a couple of years, and hence the reasons we've had the moves that we have had."

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Shares, rose nearly five tonnes on Thursday, data from the fund showed, bringing its inflow for the year to 151 tonnes, versus 52 tonnes in the same period of 2015.

Investment interest has been driven by concerns over the global economy, which have dented expectations that the Fed will press ahead with fresh interest rate hikes. The Fed has indicated that further hikes will be data-driven.

US non-farm payrolls are estimated to have risen by 190,000 last month after increasing by 151,000 in January, according to a Reuters poll of economists. A positive number could weigh on gold, though analysts said it would have to be extremely strong to offset current strength in the metal.

Silver was up 1% at $15.39 an ounce, while platinum was up 0.7% at $955.75 an ounce and palladium was down 1% at $534.35 an ounce.