SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) - Gold rose further on Monday on firm
stocks after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data, although some investors may
stay on the sidelines ahead of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting
this week. 	
      	
    FUNDAMENTALS	
    * Spot gold added $2.02 an ounce to $1,710.05 an ounce by 0036 GMT,
after rising nearly 1 percent on Friday on higher crude oil and U.S. equities.
Bullion struck a record around $1,920 an ounce last September. 	
    * U.S. employment grew solidly for a third straight month in February,
beating expectations and providing another sign that the world's largest economy
may be on a path of stable recovery.  	
     * The Federal Reserve has said it intends to keep interest rates near zero
until 2014, but if the U.S. data trend persists, it may have to reconsider any
plans for additional monetary easing. The Fed will holds a policy meeting on
Tuesday.	
    * U.S. April gold hardly changed at $1,711 an ounce. 	
    * Money managers, including hedge funds and other large speculators, cut
their bullish bets in gold to the lowest level in 5 weeks during the week of
March 6, as prices unwound from a late-February peak near $1,800 per ounce.
 	
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    MARKET NEWS	
    * Japan's Nikkei share average broke above 10,000 in early trade on Monday,
boosted by another robust U.S. jobs report that pointed to a strengthening U.S.
economic recovery.  	
    * The dollar hovered around three-week highs against a basket of major
currencies in Asia on Monday, having gained ground late last week after upbeat
U.S. jobs data was seen lessening the chance of fresh stimulus from the Fed this
week. 	
   	
    DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 	
    N/A -  BANK OF JAPAN BEGINS TWO-DAY POLICY REVIEW    	
    0500 - JAPAN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE FOR FEBRUARY     	
    0700 - GERMANY WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX FOR FEBRUARY     	
    0900 - ITALY FINAL Q4 GDP    	
    1400 - U.S. EMPLOYMENT TREND INDEX FOR FEBRUARY  	
    1800 - U.S. FEDERAL BUDGET FOR FEBRUARY  	
            	
    PRICES	
    	
  Precious metals prices 0036 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg  Volume
  Spot Gold        1710.05    2.02   +0.12      9.35
  Spot Silver        34.18    0.03   +0.09     23.44
  Spot Platinum    1679.24    2.18   +0.13     20.55
  Spot Palladium    699.72    7.72   +1.12      7.24
  COMEX GOLD APR2  1711.00   -0.50   -0.03      9.20       2927
  COMEX SILVER MAY2  34.21    0.00   -0.01     22.55       455
  Euro/Dollar       1.3110
  Dollar/Yen         82.28

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