Gold rose in Europe on Friday, building on the previous session’s near 3 percent gains, as Wall Street’s slide to 12-year lows curbed appetite for equities and the dollar tumbled ahead of U.S. jobs data later this session.

Investors spooked by volatility in other assets such as currencies and equities are buying the metal as a safe store of value, analysts said.

Spot gold climbed to $938.80/939.80 an ounce at 1014 GMT from $932.00 late in New York on Thursday. Earlier it touched a high of $941.90.

“Gold is considered in the first instance at the moment an insurance premium and a safe haven,” said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. “It is the equity markets and risk aversion that are moving the market.”

The precious metal rose on Thursday as U.S. stocks tumbled to 12-year lows after General Motors said it was facing potential bankruptcy, and extended its gains as stocks slid in Asia.

World stocks struck a six-year low as Japan’s Nikkei average fell 3 percent in early trade. European shares opened a touch higher, but sentiment remains cautious.

Traders are awaiting key U.S. non-farm payrolls data due for release at 1330 GMT for clues as to the next direction of the markets. “Disappointing data could mean more pressure for U.S. equity markets,” said Standard Bank analyst Manqoba Madinane.

Economists expect the payrolls report will show the United States shed 648,000 jobs in February, compared to 598,000 in January. The unemployment rate is expected to have risen to 7.9 percent from 7.6 percent.

The dollar tumbled more than 1 percent against a basket of currencies, reversing recent gains, as investors braced for the data. Talk that the economy could have lost up to 1 million jobs had hit the U.S. currency hard, traders said.

SCEPTICAL

But analysts remain sceptical about gold’s ability to extend its gains. Commerzbank’s Weinberg said gold’s weak underlying fundamentals, with jewellery demand falling sharply and scrap supply picking up, pointed to a much lower price.

Demand for gold in India, the world’s largest market for the precious metal, remained slack as prices rose for a second day on Friday, while selling of scrap stepped up as gold holders cashed in after the recent price gains.

“There are no hopes of traders buying,” said Haresh Acharya, head of the bullion desk at Parker Agrochem Exports in Ahmedabad. “Sellers are coming in in huge numbers.”

Buying of gold-backed exchange traded funds was also stagnant, with holdings of New York’s SPDR Gold Trust , static for a fifth consecutive session.

Among other precious metals, spot silver tracked gold higher to $13.42/13.49 an ounce from $13.22. Earlier it touched a one-week high of $13.49.

Holdings of the world’s largest silver ETF, the iShares Silver Trust , declined by 82.8 tonnes on Thursday, and are down 282.1 tonnes or 3 percent from the record level they held last Thursday.

Spot platinum firmed to $1,070/1,080 an ounce from $1,058.50. Prices ticked higher on Thursday despite the announcement from General Motors and a spate of other price-negative data.

“That platinum remained comfortably above $1,000 an ounce despite ostensibly bearish news leads us to believe that the market is building a base from which to trade higher,” said HSBC analyst James Steel.

Spot palladium rose to $200/205 an ounce from $196, having earlier reached a 10-day high of $201.

March 6 (Reuters)