PRECIOUS-Gold holds steady with focus on geopolitics and US jobs data

By Anmol Choubey

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady after paring earlier gains on Wednesday, as attention remained on geopolitical developments and upcoming U.S. jobs data that could shape expectations for future interest rate moves.

Spot gold XAU= was nearly steady at $4,931.99 per ounce, as of 10:53 a.m. ET (1553 GMT) after rising as much as 3.1% earlier in the session. Prices rose 5.9% rise on Tuesday.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery rose 0.4% to $4,956.10 per ounce.

Prices are "consolidating the recent gains and we see resistance at $5,050 and $5,100,"said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities.

Bullion slid more than 13% on Friday and Monday, its steepest two‑day sell‑off in decades, after hitting a record high of $5,594.82 on January 29. The metal remains up over 16% so far this year.

Marex analyst Edward Meir, noted that gold could be at the start of a consolidation range, trading sideways rather than seeing sharp swings in coming weeks.

On the geopolitical front, Iran and the United States are set to hold talks in Oman on Friday, even as tensions remain elevated after the U.S. military said it shot down an Iranian drone approaching a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday.

U.S. private job growth undershot expectations, with ADP data showing just 22,000 jobs added in January versus forecasts of 48,000.

Non-yielding bullion tends to perform better in low-interest-rate environments.

Goldman Sachs continues to see upside risk to its $5,400/oz gold forecast for December 2026, citing strong central bank buying and expected ETF inflows as the Fed cuts rates, with further private‑sector demand a potential upside surprise.

Elsewhere, Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in wide-ranging talks on geopolitics ahead of Trump's expected visit to China in April, hours after Xi's virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, spot silver XAG= rose 3% to $87.65 an ounce on Wednesday. The white metal hit a month-low of $71.33 on Monday following a record high of $121.64 on Thursday last week, and up over 27% so far this year.

Spot platinum XPT= added 1.4% to $2,239.94 per ounce, while palladium XPD= gained 2.3% to $1,773.85.