Gold falls as investors await US jobs data

[BENGALURU] Gold prices were subdued on Tuesday, as the dollar held steady while investors avoided taking big positions ahead of the key US non-farm payroll data due later this week, although growing concerns over rising coronavirus cases limited decline.

Spot gold fell 0.2 per cent to US$1,810.56 per ounce by 1.21am GMT, while US gold futures fell 0.5 per cent to US$1,813.80.

US Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller on Monday said the central bank could start to reduce its support for the economy by October if the next two monthly jobs reports each show employment rising by 800,000 to one million, as he expects.

US manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in July for the second straight month as raw material shortages persisted, though there are signs of some easing in supply-chain bottlenecks.

The dollar was on the back foot against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc following soft US manufacturing data and rising concerns about the coronavirus Delta variant.

The US states of Florida and Louisiana were at or near their highest hospitalisation numbers of the pandemic on Monday, due to the still-spreading Delta variant.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.2 per cent to 1,029.71 tonnes on Monday from 1,031.46 tonnes on Friday.

Silver fell 0.4 per cent to US$25.33 per ounce, palladium rose 0.2 per cent to US$2,680.32, while platinum was down 0.6 per cent to US$1,050.83.

REUTERS