Gold trades in a tight range as investors await US jobs data

By Ashitha Shivaprasad

March 9 (Reuters) – The price of gold rose on Thursday but was trading in a relatively narrow range as traders took positions ahead of U.S. jobs data that could influence Reserve monetary policy federal.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,816.89 an ounce at 09:17 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since February 28 on Wednesday. Prices, however, were trading in a tight $8 range.

* The dollar index fell 0.2%, after hitting three-month highs in the previous session. The weakness of the greenback makes bullion more attractive.

* US gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,820.40.

* Gold is rising slightly as people buy at lower prices, but the picture doesn’t look rosy for bullion with the prospect of higher interest rates for longer, independent analyst Ross Norman said.

* On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed his message of higher and potentially faster rate hikes, but stressed that the debate is still ongoing and that the decision depends on data to be released before the US central bank policy meeting in two weeks.

* The US Department of Labor’s non-farm payrolls will be released on Friday, which will be scrutinized by traders to confirm that the labor market remains strong and, therefore, the economy is strong enough to accept rate hikes, but a lower-than-expected report would work in favor of gold, according to Norman.

* In other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.4% to $20.09 an ounce; Platinum rose 0.2% to $939.13 and palladium fell 0.6% to $1,364.21.

(Edited in Spanish by Carlos Serrano)