PRECIOUS-Gold under pressure from weak data; ECB eyed

* Risk of growing euro zone crisis underpins dollar,
pressures gold
* Spot gold may drop to $1,623.90/oz - technicals
* Investors await key U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday
* Coming up: ECB rate decision; 1145 GMT

(Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Gold was under pressure on
Thursday after disappointing data from both sides of the
Atlantic fueled concerns about global growth, while investors
awaited a rate decision by the European Central Bank later in
the day for more trading cues.
The dollar strengthened slightly against a basket of
currencies, as worries about a faltering euro zone
economy offset concerns over a slower momentum in the U.S.
recovery. A stronger greenback weighs on dollar-priced
commodities including gold.
"With the euro zone debt crisis threatening to flare up
again, we can see some pressure on gold if the dollar rises,"
said Lynette Tan, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"So far investors are still quite confident in the U.S.
economy, because over the past few months we have seen some
pretty good data and last night's numbers won't weigh on markets
too much."
U.S. companies hired the fewest people in seven months in
April, said the ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday,
just before the key April non-farm payrolls data that is
scheduled to be released on Friday.
Investors will closely watch a meeting by the European
Central Bank later in the day. The ECB is expected to hold fire
despite calls to restart its bond-buying programme to shield
austerity-hit Spain from further pain.
Spot gold edged down 0.4 percent to $1,646.81 an
ounce by 0627 GMT, extending losses from the previous session.
U.S. gold also inched down 0.4 percent to $1,647.70.

Though gold is traditionally seen as a safe haven and
attracts investors during economic and political turmoils, it
has moved largely in tandem with riskier assets in recent
months.
The inverse correlation-log between gold and the dollar
stood at a negative 0.6, after hitting its tightest level in
more than three months at negative 0.7 last month, as nervous
investors pour into the dollar and U.S. Treasuries.
A reading at -1 suggests perfect inverse correlation -- as
the dollar appreciates, gold prices decline.
Asia's physical gold market was quiet after an attempt to
break above $1,670 triggered some scrap selling earlier in the
week, dealers said.
"Initially there was some long liquidation or rather
profit-taking," said a Singapore-based dealer. "The very tight
range doesn't trigger much interest."
Rupee-priced gold hit its highest level in more
than four months earlier this week due to the weakness in the
currency, dampening buying interest from India, the world's
biggest gold consumer.

Precious metals prices 0627 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1646.81 -5.82 -0.35 5.31
Spot Silver 30.45 -0.18 -0.59 9.97
Spot Platinum 1556.69 -0.26 -0.02 11.75
Spot Palladium 665.70 -0.25 -0.04 2.02
COMEX GOLD JUN2 1647.70 -6.30 -0.38 5.16 10498
COMEX SILVER JUL2 30.48 -0.16 -0.54 9.19 1968
Euro/Dollar 1.3147
Dollar/Yen 80.25
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Editing by Himani Sarkar)