PRECIOUS-Gold inches down, eyes remain on $1,000

TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Gold futures dipped a touch but
continued to hover near $1,000 on Monday, supported by
flight-to-quality buying, although they have failed to top that
mark in the past two sessions.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Gold XAU= stood at $991.60 per ounce at 0101 GMT, down
0.2 percent compared to the New York notional close of $993.40.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery GCZ9 were at
$993.80 per ounce, after settling down $1 at $996.70 on Friday.
The contract rose to $999.50 on Thursday, the highest price since
February.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), said holdings stood at 1,077.63 tonnes as
of Sept 4, down 0.38 tonnes or 0.04 percent from the previous
business day. [GOL/SPDR]

* New York commodity markets will be closed on Monday, Sept.
7, due to the U.S. Labor Day holiday.

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as investors focused on
the bright side of a mixed payrolls report that showed
smaller-than-expected job cuts in August, although the
unemployment rate hit a 26-year high. [.N]

* The yen fell on Friday on news U.S. employers cut fewer
jobs than expected in August, reinforcing recent data indicating
an economic recovery and dimming safe-haven demand for the
Japanese currency. [USD/]

DATA EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Monday: ECON

- Euro zone Sentix index for September (0830 GMT)

- German industrial orders for July (1000 GMT)

- British BRC retail sales for August (2301 GMT)

- British RICS house price for August (2301 GMT)

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PRICES

Precious metals prices at 0002 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30
Spot gold $992.90 -$0.50 -0.05% +10.69% $860.10
Spot silver $16.18 -$0.02 -0.12% +35.06% $11.29
Spot plat $1250.50 -$2.00 -0.16% -0.16% $1245.47
COMEX gold $993.90 -$1.50 -0.15% -0.24% $954.09
TOCOM gold 2,984 28 +0.95% +1.02% 2,910
TOCOM plat 3,772 33 +0.88% +0.32% 3,792
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.432 $0.002 +0.16% +0.22%
Dlr/yen 93.17 0.17 +0.18% +0.19%
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced
in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)