Gold dips after rallying on U.S. jobs data rally

Singapore (Nov 10)   Gold slipped nearly 1 percent early on Monday after a short covering rally in the previous session, fuelled by a softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report,
showing that the metal was still not out of the woods.

Despite a 3 percent jump on Friday, gold remained below a key $1,180-an-ounce level that could pressure the metal back to4-1/2-year lows reached last week on a strong dollar and fears regarding an upcoming rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
   
FUNDAMENTALS
 * Spot gold fell as much as 0.9 percent to $1,168.10
before recovering slightly to trade down about $8 at $1,170.67
by 0045 GMT.
 * On Friday, gold fell to $1,131.85 - its lowest since April
2010 - before recovering to post its biggest one-day gain in
five months.
 * Gold got a boost after U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased
214,000 in October versus a projected 231,000, hurting the
dollar and boosting the metal's appeal as a hedge. But details
of the report were solid with the unemployment rate dipping to a
fresh six-year low of 5.8 percent even as more people entered
the work force.
 * The jump also followed earlier sharp losses in the week as
speculators covered their short positions.
 * However, investor positions show that the sentiment
towards bullion remains bearish and the metal could plumb new
lows before the end of the year.
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.78 percent to 727.15
tonnes on Friday - its lowest in six years.
 * Hedge funds and money managers slashed their bullish bets
in gold futures and options to their lowest in four weeks, the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.
 * Gold's rout may be far from over, with many analysts and
traders surveyed by Reuters predicting prices could fall to
$1,000 per ounce by the end of the year for the first time since
2009.
    * In other market news, the curtain came down on nearly a
century of tradition for bullion markets on Friday when U.S.
bourse Intercontinental Exchange was named as provider of an
electronic benchmark gold price to replace the twice daily
"fix".
    * Calling time on London's century-old gold fix could mark
the beginning of an even wider industry overhaul that may
ultimately dilute the dominance of the highly profitable
bilateral over-the-counter trading.
   
 MARKET NEWS
    * The dollar hovered below a four-year peak on Monday,
having lost a bit of altitude late last week after U.S. jobs
data fell short of expectations, prompting some investors to
take profits on extremely long positions.

Sourse: Reuters