PRECIOUS-Gold steady ahead of US jobs data, on track for weekly gain

SINGAPORE, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Gold traded little changed on
Friday, remaining on track to snap three weeks of losses, with
investors waiting for a key U.S. employment report later in the
day for further clues on the health of the world's top economy.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,715.59 an ounce
by 0026 GMT, on course for a slight weekly rise of 0.3 percent.
* U.S. gold was also barely moved at $1,716.40.
* All eyes are on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, which is
expected to show a pickup in job growth, although the
unemployment rate may tick up from a near four-year low.

* It follows figures that showed U.S. companies added jobs
in October at the fastest pace in eight months, a sign of modest
healing in the labour market just days before a presidential
election that could hinge on the economy.
* Other data showed a drop in new claims for jobless
benefits, a sharp improvement in consumer confidence, while
there were mixed signals regarding the health of U.S.
manufacturing.
* South Africa's platinum industry is in "severe financial
distress" and high wage settlements to get wildcat strikers back
to work will lead to job cuts, Anglo American Platinum
said.
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MARKET NEWS
* The S&P 500 scored its best day in seven weeks on Thursday
as bullish consumer confidence and private-sector jobs data gave
investors reason to cheer following superstorm Sandy's
devastating sweep through the U.S. Northeast.
* The safe-haven yen stayed under pressure on Friday, while
commodity currencies held solid gains as investors bet on an
upbeat U.S. payrolls report after private employers added jobs
at the fastest pace in eight months.

DATA/EVENTS
0843 Italy Markit/ADACI Mfg PMI Oct
0853 Germany Markit/BME Mfg PMI Oct
0858 Euro zone Markit Mfg PMI Oct
1230 U.S. Non-farm payrolls Oct
1400 U.S. Durable goods orders Sep
1930 U.S. CFTC commitment of traders data

PRICES

Precious metals prices 0026 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1715.49 1.40 +0.08 9.70
Spot Silver 32.30 0.07 +0.22 16.65
Spot Platinum 1564.24 -0.26 -0.02 12.29
Spot Palladium 606.00 -5.00 -0.82 -7.13
COMEX GOLD DEC2 1716.40 0.90 +0.05 9.55 1328
COMEX SILVER DEC2 32.32 0.07 +0.22 15.78 225
Euro/Dollar 1.2931
Dollar/Yen 80.23

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Joseph Radford)