SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Gold added to overnight losses on Thursday, hurt by a stronger dollar and equities, and as investors awaited a key U.S. jobs report later this week to gauge the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had eased 0.1 percent to $1,132.25 an ounce by 0042 GMT, after dropping 0.5 percent on Wednesday.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 slipped 0.2 percent to $1,131.90.
* Markets in China, a major gold consumer, are closed on Thursday and Friday for public holidays, and the absence of Chinese buyers could weigh further on the metal's prices.
* Traders were awaiting August U.S. nonfarm payrolls data on Friday to gauge the strength of the economy and its impact on the timing of a rate hike by the Fed. The U.S. central bank has pegged the likelihood of a rate increase to the strength of economic data.
* Bullion traders remain wary of taking up fresh positions until they receive more clarity on whether the Fed will raise rates at its next meeting on Sept. 16-17.
* Low interest rates cut the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
* U.S. private payrolls data on Wednesday suggested that labour market momentum likely remained strong enough for the Fed to consider an interest rate hike this year. ID:nL1N1180PF
* In other industry news, Said Kerimov, son of Russian tycoon and parliamentarian Suleiman Kerimov, may announce a buyout offer for the remaining shares in Russia's biggest gold producer Polyus Gold PGIL.L at $2.97 per share, a statement said on Wednesday. ID:nL5N1183XU
* More than 1,000 South African workers at a Sibanye Gold SGLJ.J mine have ended a two-day sit-in to protest against the deaths of colleagues, a union and company officials said on Wednesday. ID:nL5N1181GQ
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The price of shares and other risk assets staged a tentative recovery in early Asian trade on Thursday though volatility remained high as investors fretted over global economic health. MKTS/GLOB
* The dollar climbed against the euro and yen on Thursday as global investors tentatively stepped back into riskier equities. USD/
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0755 Germany Markit services PMI Aug
0800 Euro zone Markit services PMI Aug
0900 Euro zone Retail sales Jul
1145 Outcome of European Central Bank policy meeting
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1230 U.S. International trade Jul
1400 U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI Aug
PRICES AT 0042 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1132.25
-1.4
-0.12 Spot silver
14.66
-0.04
-0.27 Spot platinum
1008.74
-3.76
-0.37 Spot palladium
579.5
-3
-0.52 Comex gold
1131.9
-1.7
-0.15 Comex silver
14.66 -0.007
-0.05 Euro
1.1205
DXY
96.042
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months