* Spot gold rallies 1.5 percent, U.S. gold 1.6 percent after 3 pct drop
* Physical purchase active as buyers exploit lower prices
* Spot gold could fall to $1,793.19 -technicals
* Coming up: U.S. President Obama addresses Congress; 2300 GMT (Writes through; adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Gold prices bounced back more than 1 percent on Thursday, boosted by bargain-hunters after the previous session's fall of 3 percent, ahead of a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama that could allay recession fears.
Obama will lay out a jobs package worth more than $300 billion later on Thursday, after data showed the world's top economy added no new jobs in August.
Gold prices dipped to below $1,800 in the previous session, triggering a wave of buying during Asian hours. The price of cash gold rose as much as 1.5 percent to $1,843.49 an ounce and pared some gains to $1,840.66 by 0641 GMT.
The most-active U.S. gold futures contract
The uncertainties around global economic growth have propelled gold to consecutive record highs since July, and are expected to underpin sentiment for the metal until investors are convinced the danger of recession is past.
Obama's speech may offer hopes of improving the labour market, but the uptick in risk appetite is likely to be temporary.
"All his package may do is lessen the fallout of recent knocks to confidence from the euro zone sovereign debt crisis and U.S. ratings downgrade," said David Thurtell, a Citigroup analyst.
Buyers rushed to the physical gold market after prices dropped as much as 6.6 percent in the past two sessions from a record high of $1,920.3 hit on Tuesday.
RISK APPETITE IMPROVES
Investors abandoned precious metals for the riskier stock market on Wednesday, as Germany's top court rejected lawsuits aimed at blocking German participation in emergency loan packages, but gave its parliament more say in bailouts.
The euro slipped and European stock index futures inched up ahead of a European Central Bank meeting later that is expected to call a halt to its rate tightening circle to support economies battered by the debt crisis.
Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could fall towards $1,793.19 later in the day, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
"The gold market is anticipated to maintain its downward trend in the near-term, with a fall toward $1,750 possible over the next few days," Tom Pawlicki, an analyst at MF Global, said in a research note.
The direction of the market is less than certain, as an uncertain economic outlook in the United States and Europe, mixed data, Obama's job packages and deteriorating technical indicators vie for investors' attention.
In a sign indicating caution among gold investors, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Silver Trust have remained unchanged for a few days.
Precious metals prices 0641 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1840.66 24.20 +1.33 29.67 Spot Silver 41.75 0.23 +0.55 35.29 Spot Platinum 1833.49 18.04 +0.99 3.73 Spot Palladium 752.97 5.99 +0.80 -5.82 TOCOM Gold 4584.00 11.00 +0.24 22.93 110262 TOCOM Platinum 4599.00 -15.00 -0.33 -2.07 10662 TOCOM Silver 103.60 1.00 +0.97 27.90 735 TOCOM Palladium 1899.00 19.00 +1.01 -9.44 329 COMEX GOLD DEC1 1843.50 25.90 +1.42 29.70 37251 COMEX SILVER DEC1 41.85 0.21 +0.51 35.25 3056 Euro/Dollar 1.4073 Dollar/Yen 77.35 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months