SINGAPORE, July 8 (Reuters) - Spot gold edged lower on Friday, ahead of a key U.S. employment report that is expected to show improvement in the labour market and boost optimism on prospects of the world's largest economy.
A stronger-than-expected payrolls data could ease fears that the U.S. economy would be in a prolonged soft patch, undermining the safe-haven demand in bullion.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold inched down 0.1 percent to $1,529.71 an ounce by 0046 GMT, headed for a weekly gain of 3 percent, its strongest week since the end of April.
* U.S. gold
* Investors are eyeing the key non-farm payrolls data for June out of the United States due later in the day, after two separate employment reports showed improvement in the labour market.
* The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points as widely expected, and signalled a further hike is likely this year to tackle inflation despite the euro zone debt crisis.
* Spot silver lost 0.1 percent to $36.37, on course for a 7.2-percent weekly ascent, it best week since end of May.
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MARKET NEWS
* The euro kept a tentative grip on overnight gains in Asia on Friday, cheered by the ECB's pledge to provide Portuguese banks with liquidity, but trading is likely to be subdued ahead of the highly anticipated U.S. jobs report.
* U.S. stocks closed sharply higher and the Nasdaq notched an eighth day of gains on Thursday as improved labor market and retail sales data added to optimism a day before the critical June payrolls report.
DATA/EVENTS 1230 U.S. Non-farm payrolls Jun 1400 U.S. Wholesale inventories May 1900 U.S. Consumer credit May 1930 U.S. CFTC trader commitments-futures Weekly <0#1CFTC00> 1930 U.S. CFTC trader commitments-fut&opnsWeekly <0#3CFTC00>
PRICES Precious metals prices 0046 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1529.71 -2.14 -0.14 7.77 Spot Silver 36.37 -0.04 -0.11 17.85 Spot Platinum 1733.74 -6.11 -0.35 -1.91 Spot Palladium 779.50 -2.05 -0.26 -2.50 TOCOM Gold 4005.00 5.00 +0.13 7.40 30045 TOCOM Platinum 4572.00 29.00 +0.64 -2.64 6973 TOCOM Silver 95.10 0.70 +0.74 17.41 440 TOCOM Palladium 2053.00 29.00 +1.43 -2.10 169 COMEX GOLD AUG1 1530.30 -0.30 -0.02 7.66 1221 COMEX SILVER SEP1 36.42 -0.12 -0.32 17.71 182 Euro/Dollar 1.4346 Dollar/Yen 81.27 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)