Gold prices were little changed on Thursday, following an over 1% jump in the previous session, as investors awaited more data to gauge the health of the US economy.
Spot gold was steady at $1,498.91 per ounce, as of 0410 GMT, while US gold futures were down 0.2% at $1,504.80 an ounce.
The precious metal jumped 1.4% on Wednesday after disappointing hiring by US private employers unnerved investors already concerned about slowing growth in the world’s largest economy.
“Gold is clearly being used as a hedge against volatility in other markets,” said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley.
“With negative investor sentiment on global growth and trade and the meltdown in equity markets overnight we saw a flight to safe havens.”
The jobs data comes ahead of the more comprehensive US nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday and added to the gloom prompted by a survey that showed manufacturing activity in the United States tumbled to a more than 10-year low in September.
The disappointing readings weighed on the dollar, which hit near one-week lows against the euro and yen.
Asian stocks also slipped on Thursday, following a drop on Wall Street, after Washington opened a new trade war front by saying it would impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of goods from the European Union.
{{/usCountry}}Asian stocks also slipped on Thursday, following a drop on Wall Street, after Washington opened a new trade war front by saying it would impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of goods from the European Union.
{{/usCountry}}“Gold prices have rallied strongly as weak economic data and geopolitical risks have increased the likelihood of further rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve,” analysts at ANZ said in a note.
“US jobless data on Friday and consumer confidence early next week will be a key driver of gold in the short term.”
Indicative of investor interest, holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.32% to 923.76 tonnes on Wednesday.
Among other precious metals, platinum was up 0.1% at $887.70 per ounce, while silver rose 0.2% to $17.58 an ounce.
Palladium was flat at $1,687.48 per ounce.