Spot gold held steady on Thursday, supported by bargain hunting on the physical market, but optimism spurred by strong US private employment data and hopes of a positive showing from Friday's nonfarm payrolls number weighed on sentiment.
The number of US private-sector jobs surged in December at a rate three times stronger than forecast, payrolls processing company ADP Employer Services said on Wednesday.
Spot gold lost 0.1 percent to $1,375.8 an ounce by 0638 GMT, after falling to a three-week low of $1,363.8 in the previous session. Silver, which rose by more than 80 percent in 2010, might go under pressure from the rebalancing act, for the short term.
Spot silver gained 0.3 percent to $29.34 an ounce, recovering from a three-week low of $28.57 in the previous session.
Spot palladium lost 0.3 percent to $770.47, up from a 1-1/2 week low of $746.08 hit on Wednesday.