PRECIOUS-Gold heads for best week in six, US payrolls data on tap

By Rahul Paswan and Sarah Qureshi

March 7 (Reuters) - Gold prices climbed on Friday and were headed for their best week in six, buoyed by trade war concerns and a weaker dollar, while the market's focus shifted to the U.S. non-farm payrolls report due later in the day.

Spot gold XAU= added 0.3% to $2,919.19 an ounce as of 1214 GMT. Safe-haven bullion has gained over 2% so far this week, its best since the week of January 20, as U.S. President Donald Trump's ever-shifting tariff policies fanned uncertainty.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were unchanged at $2,926.40.

The U.S. dollar index =USD is on course for its worst weekly performance since November 7, 2022, making greenback-priced bullion less expensive for foreign buyers.

Weakening in the dollar index, tariff concerns, and poor numbers from the U.S. economy, all these three factors have supported gold this week, said Ajay Kedia, director at Mumbai-based Kedia Commodities.

"I'm expecting some kind of consolidation or weakness in gold prices to the tune of around $2,872, acting as near term support unless we don't have any strong news," Kedia said.

Data earlier this week showed a slowdown in U.S. private payrolls growth in February, while U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected last week.

The U.S. non-farm payrolls report is due at 1330 GMT, and might offer cues to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and will be followed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech on the economic outlook.

"Weak payrolls could drive markets to believe in earlier rate cuts, aiding gold higher," said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree.

The Fed has held interest rates steady so far this year after executing three rate cuts last year, but the market expects easing to resume in June. FEDWATCH

Despite being an inflation hedge, higher interest rates may dampen the non-yielding asset's appeal.

Spot silver XAG= fell 0.5% to $32.47 an ounce and platinum XPT= shed 0.2% to $965.15, while palladium XPD= edged 0.3% up to $945.09.