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PRECIOUS-Gold rises despite U.S. jobs data but remains set for weekly loss

Published 03/12/2016, 06:50 am
© Reuters.  PRECIOUS-Gold rises despite U.S. jobs data but remains set for weekly loss
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* SPDR gold holdings down 1.5 pct on Thursday

* Gold bounced up from Thursday's 10-month low

* Gold on track for fourth straight weekly loss

* Palladium off 1-1/2-year high, down on the week (Updates prices; adds comment, second byline, NEW YORK dateline)

By Marcy Nicholson and Zandi Shabalala

NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Friday, climbing for the first time in four sessions as it shrugged off data showing rising U.S. job numbers, with analysts saying that an expected rise in interest rates had already been priced in.

U.S. employers boosted hiring in November, pushing down the unemployment rate to a more than nine-year low of 4.6 percent and increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month. is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, which make the non-yielding asset less attractive while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.

"The market is still thinking a December hike is very likely, which has already factored in, and that's why gold is not really moving today," said Natixis' precious metals analyst, Bernard Dahdah.

Spot gold XAU= was up 0.3 percent at $1,174.03 an ounce by 2:33 p.m. EST (1933 GMT), bouncing up from Thursday's lowest level since Feb. 5 at $1,160.38. It was on track to record a fourth straight week of losses.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled up 0.7 percent at $1,177.80 per ounce.

Capital Economics commodities economist Simona Gambarini said that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is uppermost in investors' minds.

"Most investors are now looking at 2017 to see what's going to happen with Trump, what policies he will implement and the inflationary impact of those policies," Gambarini said.

The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, slipped by about 0.3 percent, helping to support gold prices. USD/

"With a rate rise in a couple of weeks almost certain, the dollar will remain firm and gold will remain pressured, although we could see a bit of book-squaring in the run-up," said Marex Spectron's head of precious metals, David Govett.

Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said that it expects the upward trend of the first half of the year to resume in 2017. headwind from U.S. dollar appreciation and the rise of bond yields should abate and investment demand should pick up again also given the numerous risk factors," Commerzbank said.

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust GLD , fell 1.5 percent on Thursday after dropping more than 6 percent last month. GOL/ETF

Silver XAG= rose 1 percent to $16.66 an ounce while platinum XPT= was up 1.8 percent at $927.80.

Palladium XPD= shed 1.5 percent at $739, and was on track to close the week down for the first time in five weeks after tumbling from Thursday's 1-1/2-year high.

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