SINGAPORE, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Gold languished near a three-month low on Thursday as investors positioned for a U.S. rate hike in December, while waiting for more cues from Federal Reserve officials speaking later in the session.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,087.10 an ounce by 0034 GMT. It had dropped to $1,083.65 in the previous session, the lowest since Aug. 7.
* The metal had slid for ten out of 11 sessions as of Wednesday.
* A strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report last week bolstered market expectations that the Fed would hike rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its next policy meet in December.
* Higher rates would dent demand for non-interest-paying gold, while boosting the dollar.
* Traders will be eyeing remarks by at least six Fed officials at various events later in the day for clues about economic growth and the U.S. central bank's monetary policy.
* Chair Janet Yellen and Vice Chair Stanley Fischer will also be speaking.
* Focus will also be on economic data. New U.S. applications for unemployment benefits likely fell last week, almost reversing the prior week's increase, suggesting the labour market recovery continued to gain momentum in early November.
* Investor flows have not been encouraging for gold. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to 663.43 tonnes on Tuesday - the lowest since September 2008 when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, kicking off a global financial crisis.
* The technical picture has also deteriorated, with the next major support level expected at a 5-1/2-year low of $1,077 reached in July.
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar, euro and yen started Thursday's trade on familiar ground, having drifted in slim ranges overnight. USD/
* Asian shares got off to a tentative start on Thursday, after Wall Street ended a choppy session lower as a sharp drop in oil prices knocked energy stocks.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany Consumer prices final Oct
1000 Euro zone Industrial production Sep
1330 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1500 U.S. JOLTS job openings Sep
PRICES AT 0034 GMT
Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1087.1
1.34
0.12 Spot silver
14.32
0.03
0.21 Spot platinum
878.74 -0.76
-0.09 Spot palladium
573.47
0.25
0.04 Comex gold
1086.6
1.7
0.16 Comex silver
14.315 0.052
0.36
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months