Gold added to overnight losses on Thursday, hurt by a stronger dollar and as investors awaited a key US jobs report to gauge the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike. Spot gold had eased 0.1 percent to $1,132.45 an ounce by 0637 GMT, after dropping 0.5 percent on Wednesday. US gold slipped about $1 to $1,132.20. US private payrolls data on Wednesday suggested that labour market momentum likely remained strong enough for the Fed to consider an interest rate hike this year. The nonfarm payrolls report on Friday will be eyed for more clues.
"Gold is awaiting the payroll data for indications of Fed intentions at the September FOMC meeting. So the market may move sideways until the numbers are released," said HSBC analyst James Steel, referring to the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee.