PRECIOUS-Gold ends flat near 2012 high, US payrolls eyed

* Gold consolidates gains, hovers around 2012 highs
* Platinum group metals mixed, US auto sales data upbeat
* PIMCO's Gross: only gold, real assets will survive
inflation

(Adds details, updates market activity)
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Gold traded nearly flat on
Tuesday as the market consolidated gains a day after hitting a
2012 high and ahead of the all-important September U.S. nonfarm
payrolls data due later this week.
Palladium rose 1.5 percent while platinum was little changed
as the largest U.S. automaker General Motors Co posted a
small gain in September U.S. sales and total U.S. auto sales
increased 12 percent.
The bullion market took a breather after the metal rose to
its highest level this year on Monday after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke renewed the central bank's pledge made in
September to keep monetary stimulus in place even after the
economic rebound appears to gain traction.
U.S. gold futures volume was on track to finish at a
one-month low as one of the world's top bullion consumers,
China, was absent from trading because of a week-long holiday
while India's market was also shut.
"Although these holidays may mute activity slightly this
week, the new quarter and Friday's employment report will be
enough for CTAs (commodity trading advisors) and hedge funds to
adjust gold positions this week," Carlos Perez-Santalla of
brokerage PVM Futures, said in an email to clients.
Spot gold edged up 61 cents at $1,774.40 an ounce by
3:10 p.m. EDT (1910 GMT). Monday's session high was $1,791.20,
its highest since mid-November last year.
U.S. COMEX December gold futures settled down $7.70
at $1,775.60 an ounce.
Bill Gross, founder and co-chief investment officer of bond
giant PIMCO, said that rising U.S. debt will lead the Federal
Reserve to print more money, stoking inflation and debasing the
dollar.
That would adversely affect stocks and bonds, while only
gold and real asset investments would survive, Gross said.

MARKET CAUTION
A high concentration of call options near the current market
price of the SPDR Gold Trust suggests some bullion
investors are uncertain about gold's outlook ahead of Friday's
options expiry and the payrolls report.
Investment demand for gold, as measured by inflows of metal
into the world's major gold exchange-traded funds, continued to
grow, following an addition of nearly 130,000 ounces of gold
into bullion funds including the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's
largest gold ETF.
Silver eased 0.2 percent to $34.57 an ounce. Platinum
reversed early gains to inch down 0.1 percent to $1,669
an ounce, while palladium gained 1.4 percent to $647.72
an ounce.
Platinum group metals was supported by the positive U.S.
auto sales report and ongoing mining labor unrest after a series
of violent strikes in South Africa's platinum belt, where most
of the world's supply comes from.
3:10 PM EDT LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold DEC 1775.60 -7.70 -0.4 1772.30 1786.60 105,418
US Silver DEC 34.669 -0.283 -0.8 34.420 35.115 31,810
US Plat OCT 1682.90 1.40 0.1 1674.10 1680.10 25
US Pall DEC 654.20 8.60 1.3 641.70 656.35 2,384

Gold 1774.40 0.61 0.0 1771.73 1784.20
Silver 34.570 -0.070 -0.2 34.440 35.040
Platinum 1669.00 -2.00 -0.1 1671.90 1681.49
Palladium 647.72 9.22 1.4 644.00 654.00

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 108,491 164,865 196,124 19.44 0.30
US Silver 33,489 60,758 58,222 28.75 0.54
US Platinum 7,565 16,164 8,943 23 0.00
US Palladium 2,395 5,778 4,385

(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper and Clare Hutchison in
London; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer and Jim Marshall)