Gold firm above $1,250; but stock rally curbs demand

Mumbai: Gold was firm above $1,250 an  ounce on Monday after US jobs data matched expectations, while  a rally in stocks curbed the metal's appeal as an investment  hedge.          

Fundamentals      

Spot gold was trading flat at $1,252.51 an ounce ,after losing less than 0.1 per cent on Friday.      

US employment returned to its pre-recession peak in May,  with a solid pace of hiring that offered confirmation the  economy has snapped back from a winter slump. Nonfarm payrolls  increased 217,000 last month, the Labor Department said on  Friday.       

With no major data scheduled for Monday, markets are  likely to look towards investment and consumer demand for  further cues.      

Hedge funds and money managers cut their bullish bets in  gold futures and options in the week to June 3 to their lowest  level since mid-January, according to data from the Commodity  Futures Trading Commission on Friday.      

South African mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi said on  Saturday he had ‘done enough work’ in mediating between the AMCU  union and the world's top three platinum firms and he believed  the two sides would resolve a five-month strike in talks on  Monday.      

Among other precious metals, platinum and palladium gained.