BENGALURU: Gold prices held steady on Thursday as investors braced for the US non-farm payrolls data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

Spot gold was little changed at $2,036.99 per ounce as of 09:49 a.m. ET (1449 GMT), after hitting its lowest since Dec. 21 on Wednesday. US gold futures rose 0.1% to $2,044.30 per ounce.

“The gold market bulls need a fresh new spark to jump start a price rally,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.

But, “if the jobs data comes in stronger, that will put some pressure on prices and probably dial back (market) expectations for Fed interest rate cuts,” Wyckoff added.

The US non-farm payrolls report is due on Friday. Traders are pricing in about a 62% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut from the Fed at its March 19-20 policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

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