Nov 3 (Reuters) - Gold struggled for momentum on Friday as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of a report on U.S. October non-farm payrolls that could offer more clues to the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
Spot gold was almost flat at $1,986.49 per ounce by 0546 GMT and U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,994.10.
Bullion was set to snap a three-week winning streak, having declined nearly 1% for the week so far. Prices rose above the key $2,000-per-ounce level last week after escalating tensions in the Middle East boosted safe-haven demand.
"Investors are uncertain about how the Fed is going take the decisions in the coming meetings. So they are waiting for much more crucial data to take a big bet on gold. Also, we have the war uncertainties still prevailing," said Hareesh V., head of commodity research at Geojit Financial Services.
In line with market expectations, the Fed held rates steady on Wednesday and investors raised bets that the U.S. central bank may have concluded rate hikes, sending the dollar and Treasury yields lower.
Market focus now shifts to U.S. non-farm payrolls data, due at 1230 GMT, which is expected to show that employers added 180,000 jobs last month.
The jobs report needs to deliver some surprisingly weak figures to weigh further on Treasury yields and push gold prices above the $2,000-per-ounce mark, City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson said.
Markets are now pricing in around an 80% chance that the Fed will leave rates unchanged in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Higher interest rates raise the opportunity cost of holding gold.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week.
Elsewhere, spot silver was down 0.2% at $22.6842 per ounce and was on track for its second straight weekly loss.
Platinum rose 0.4% to $923.68, heading for its fourth consecutive weekly rise. Palladium climbed 1.7% to $1,117.84.
Reporting by Brijesh Patel and Anjana Anil; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sohini Goswami
Source: Reuters