SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Gold edged up slightly on safe-haven buying on Friday, heading for a second straight weekly gain, after the European Central Bank cut interest rates to an all-time low and the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would keep up its bond purchases to spur growth. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold hit an intraday high around $1,468 an ounce and stood at $1,466.74 by 0022 GMT, up only 50 cents from the previous close. Investors are waiting for U.S. non-farm payrolls report for April due on Friday, which will signal the longer-term prospects for the Fed's monetary stimulus. * Gains would still be capped by daily outflows on exchange-traded funds. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.56 percent to 1,069.22 tonnes on Thursday -- their lowest since September 2009. * U.S. gold was at $1,466.50 an ounce, down $1.10. * The European Central Bank cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.50 percent on Thursday, after inflation fell well below the ECB's target and increasingly weak economic surveys increased doubts about a recovery. * Gold consumers in China, the world's second-largest buyer after India, were looking for bargains following a shaky rebound in global prices, while demand from other Asian consumers was likely to keep premiums at multi-year highs, dealers said on Thursday. * For the top stories on metals and other news, click , or MARKET NEWS * Asian shares rose after the interest rate cut by the ECB added to hopes that more stimulus from yet another major central bank will help shore up the global economic recovery. * The euro traded at $1.3064, having skidded nearly 1 percent on Thursday. It also lost ground against the yen, slipping to 128.00 and pulling further away from a 3-year peak around 131.10 set last month.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0900 Euro zone Producer prices 1230 U.S. Nonfarm payrolls 1230 U.S. Unemployment rate 1400 U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI 1400 U.S. Factory orders PRICES Precious metals prices 0022 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1466.74 0.50 +0.03 -12.41 Spot Silver 23.77 -0.02 -0.08 -21.50 Spot Platinum 1501.00 7.00 +0.47 -2.21 Spot Palladium 692.47 3.47 +0.50 0.07 COMEX GOLD JUN3 1466.50 -1.10 -0.07 -12.49 1352 COMEX SILVER JUL3 23.75 -0.08 -0.36 -21.45 559 Euro/Dollar 1.3063 Dollar/Yen 98.00 COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
