Gold slipped in Europe on Thursday as the dollar firmed against the euro ahead of an expected rate cut by the European Central Bank later in the session, and oil prices fell $1 a barrel.

Investors are eyeing rate cuts this session from both the ECB and the Bank of England and key U.S. jobs data on Friday for clues as to the future direction of trade.

Spot gold slid to $769.25/771.25 an ounce at 1000 GMT from $772.60 an ounce in New York late on Wednesday.

“With a lower euro-dollar and lower oil, gold is pressured a bit,” Commerzbank senior trader Michael Kempsinki said. “Around $735, $750, we should see some good buying interest coming into the market.”

The dollar firmed in early trade against the euro, as did the yen, as investors worried about the breadth and depth of the global recession bought into the currencies.

A stronger dollar tends to weigh on gold, which is commonly bought as a hedge against weakness in the U.S. currency.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England are expected to announce rate cuts later in the session.

The ECB is widely seen cutting by 50 basis points to 2.75 percent, while the BoE could slash its rates by up to 1 percentage point to 2.00 percent.

The other main external driver of gold, oil prices, added pressure on the precious metal as they fell to a four-year low on Thursday.

Oil has been hit by concerns that a deep recession could have a severe impact on demand. These outweighed the price-positive effect of a 400,000-barrel drop in U.S. crude inventories reported on Wednesday.

Physical demand is easing in some of gold’s traditional markets as traders await price falls. Indian buyers are looking for prices of around $740 an ounce before making purchases, dealers reported.

PLATINUM STEADIES

Platinum prices were steady, but held only a touch over those of gold, as traders worried about the impact of the recession on carmakers, who account for around half of all demand for the white metal.

“Concerns over industrial demand for the metals – particularly from the auto sector – will continue to keep prices under pressure for the time being,” Standard Bank analyst Leon Westgate said in a note.

“In the background however, mounting production cutbacks and mine closures suggest that there may be a very rapid price recovery once the first signs of increased metals demand start to emerge,” he added.

Spot platinum was quoted at $796.50/816.50 an ounce, little changed from $793.50 in New York trade late on Wednesday. Its sister metal palladium was at $170/178 an ounce against $171.

Zurich Cantonal Bank said holdings of its platinum-backed exchange-traded fund rose 27 percent to 105,200 ounces on Dec 1, from 83,000 ounces in September. Its palladium-backed ETF saw inflows of 12 percent in the same period.

Among other precious metals, spot silver slipped to $9.57/9.65 an ounce from $9.63.

The world’s largest silver-backed ETF, the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), said its silver holdings fell 32.24 tonnes to 6,651.79 tonnes on Dec 3.

Jan Harvey,Sue Thomas
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters)