- US non-farm payrolls report due at 1230 GMT
- Gold is looking for new triggers, says analyst
- Platinum hovers near 10-year peak
July 3 (Reuters) - Gold prices were stuck in range-bound trade on Thursday as investors awaited U.S. non-farm payrolls data that could influence the Federal Reserve's timeline for interest rate cuts.
Spot gold edged down by 0.1% to $3,352.59 an ounce by 0801 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $3,363.10.
"Gold is looking for new triggers," said WisdomTree commodities strategist Nitesh Shah.
"We had slightly weak ADP data that could potentially point to a little bit of weakness in underlying labour markets, which has been a little bit of a support for gold, but the non-farm payrolls could be a trigger point later."
Data released by ADP showed U.S. private payrolls dropped by 33,000 jobs in June, marking the first decline in more than two years.
The non-farm payrolls report due at 1230 GMT on Thursday is expected to show an addition of 110,000 jobs in June, down from 139,000 in May, according to a Reuters poll.
U.S. equities climbed to record highs after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. has struck a trade deal with Vietnam, including a 20% tariff on exports to the United States. He has also expressed optimism about a deal with India.
"More trade deals at lower tariffs could build some confidence that inflation will remain benign, thus allowing the Fed to ease monetary policy," ANZ analysts said in a note.
Non-yielding gold tends to perform well when interest rates are low and during times of political and financial uncertainty.
In other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.1% to $36.93 an ounce and platinum was steady at $1,417.85, hovering near a more than 10-year high hit last week, while palladium was up 0.1% at $1,155.97.
Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru Editing by David Goodman
Source: Reuters