Spot gold down; Trade seen thin and cautious

FRANKFURT (July 3) Spot gold is a touch lower in Europe, down 0.4% at $1,236.97/oz. "It remains to be seen how gold will perform over the course of Wednesday's session, as trading conditions start to thin out ahead of the July 4 US holiday," says INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir "We suspect that not much of anything will occur given the fact that on Friday the markets will be greeted with a make-or-break June nonfarm payrolls number." A stronger-than-expected payroll reading could spark a "sharp sell off" in gold as expectations that the US will start to scale back its gold-supportive stimulus program rise, he says.