August gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $6 an ounce lower Thursday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. September silver is expected to be down 25 cents an ounce.

Spot gold gave back some of Wednesday’s gains in overnight trading as the U.S. dollar recouped some of the previous day’s losses, London-based traders said. At 7:53 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading down $5.50 to $935.25.

Much of the focus will be on U.S. jobs data due out minutes after the Comex gold and silver pits open.

In other markets that have the potential to affect metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.4076 from $1.4141 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the September S&P 500 futures are down 5.20 points to 914. August crude oil is down $1.23 to $68.08 a barrel in overnight activity.

Economic reports on the calendar Thursday include:

– June employment data due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with non-farm payrolls forecast to fall by 350,000, while the unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 9.6% from 9.4% in May;

– Weekly first-time jobless claims due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) and expected to fall 8,000 to 619,000; and

– May factory orders at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), expected to rise 1.2%.

In New York Wednesday, private-sector employment data and a report saying China wants debate on a reserve currency (since denied by China) amounted to a one-two knockout blow to the U.S. dollar, which in turn enabled gold and other precious metals to finish higher. August gold rose $13.90 to $941.30 an ounce, while September silver rose 16 cents to $13.76.

[source: futuresource.com]