BENGALURU, July 8 (Reuters) - Gold edged down early on
Friday with investors cautious ahead of U.S. economic data later
in the day, but it remained on course for a sixth straight
weekly gain.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was trading down 0.3 percent at $1,356.06
an ounce by 0106 GMT. Bullion is up about 1 percent so far for
this week.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 dipped 0.3 percent to $1,358 an ounce.
* U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in June
as small businesses ramped up hiring, and fewer Americans
applied for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting a
rebound in job growth after May's paltry gains.
* Britain's vote to leave the European Union could be
significantly negative for the euro zone, dampening a growth
outlook that is already facing headwinds, the European Central
Bank said in the minutes of its June 2 meeting, held before the
British referendum.
* Since Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU, every piece
of economic data, such as Friday's jobs report, comes with a
question mark - how much does it reflect domestic economic
developments and how much the short and long-term implications
of an economic reordering that may take years to play out?
* Investors poured the most money into U.S.-based funds
invested in precious metals since February, adding $2 billion to
these funds in the latest week, data from Thomson Reuters'
Lipper service showed on Thursday.
* Asian shares were steady in early Friday trade with MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS down 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei .N225
up 0.5 percent.
* The Perth Mint's sales of gold and silver products rose in
June as investor appetite for safe-haven assets got a boost
following Britain's surprise vote to leave the European Union.
* China's gold reserves stood at 58.62 million fine troy
ounces at the end of June, up from 58.14 million at the end of
May, the central bank said on Thursday. [nENNG760SX ]
* SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.42 percent to
978.29 tonnes on Thursday from 982.44 tonnes on Wednesday.
GOL/
* The largest union in South Africa's platinum industry said
on Thursday it would be demanding higher wages for its members
when it begins wage talks next week with Anglo American (LON:AAL) Platinum
AMSJ.J , Impala IMPJ.J and Lonmin LMI.L LONJ.J .
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0600 Germany Trade data May
0645 France Industrial output May
1230 U.S. Nonfarm payrolls Jun
1230 U.S. Unemployment rate Jun