PRECIOUS-Gold slips as upbeat U.S. data trims safe-haven draw

SINGAPORE, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Gold ticked lower for a second
session in three on Monday as a string of data pointing to a
U.S. economy on the mend gave investors less reason to buy
assets deemed as safe-haven.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold slipped $1.43 to $1,665.11 an ounce by
0056 GMT. U.S. gold dropped 0.3 percent to $1,666.20.
* Five weeks into 2013, spot gold is down about half a
percent so far this year after a 12-year winning streak as
recent data from Europe to China and the United States suggest a
brighter outlook for the global economy.
* While US non-farm payrolls rose by a slightly lower than
forecast 157,000 in January, job gains in the two previous
months were revised up by 127,000. The U.S. manufacturing sector
hit nine-month highs in January and U.S. consumer sentiment rose
more than expected.
* Apart from dulling its safe-haven appeal, signs of a
recovering U.S. economy are also weakening the case for the
Federal Reserve to prolong its monetary stimulus, cutting gold's
draw as an inflation hedge.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
, or

MARKET NEWS
* Asian shares edged higher on Monday, buoyed by U.S. data
which maintained expectations for a mild recovery and continued
loose Federal Reserve monetary policy to support it.
* The yen remained under selling pressure with the Bank of
Japan seen easing policy aggressively.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0930 Euro zone Sentix index
1000 Euro zone Producer prices
1445 U.S. ISM-New York index
1500 U.S. Durable goods
1500 U.S. Factory orders
1500 U.S. Employment trends

Precious metals prices 0056 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1665.11 -1.43 -0.09 -0.56
Spot Silver 31.72 -0.08 -0.25 4.76
Spot Platinum 1688.75 8.26 +0.49 10.02
Spot Palladium 755.00 0.82 +0.11 9.10
COMEX GOLD APR3 1666.20 -4.40 -0.26 -0.57 3458
COMEX SILVER MAR3 31.74 -0.22 -0.70 4.98 669
Euro/Dollar 1.3643
Dollar/Yen 92.65

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Ed Davies)