Gold eases from record high on profit-taking, focus on US jobs data

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Gold eased on Thursday due to profit-taking after bullion scaled an all-time peak on expectations for a US interest rate cut, while investors looked forward to a key US jobs data due this week.

Spot gold fell 0.3% at $3,546.73 per ounce, as of 0153 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of $3,578.50 on Wednesday.

US gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.8% to $3,605.60.

"We've seen a bit of profit-taking, but gold is still in a bull market at this point in time. Rate-cut expectations and worries over the Federal Reserve's independence are going to add to safe-haven demand," GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan said.

"We won't be surprised even if gold prices go up to $3,800 or even higher in the near-term."

The US Labor Department said on Wednesday that job openings fell more than expected to 7.181 million in July.

Several Fed officials said labor market concerns continue to animate their belief that rate cuts lie ahead. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he thinks the Fed should be cutting at its next meeting.

Traders are currently pricing in a 97% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the end of the US central bank's two-day policy meeting on September 17, up from 92% before the data, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment.

The focus now shifts to the US non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. The August non-farm payrolls are expected to have grown by 78,000 jobs, according to Reuters poll, versus 73,000 in July.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the US might have to "unwind" trade deals it has reached with the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, among others, if it loses a Supreme Court case involving tariffs.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.8% to $40.87 per ounce, after hitting its highest since September 2011 in the last session. Platinum slipped 0.5% to $1,415.03 and palladium fell 1% to $1,136.26.