[UPDATED] Gold steadies as modest US jobs data offsets trade uncertainty

Gold prices steadied on Wednesday as a somewhat strong US jobs data for April offset the lingering uncertainty over US-China trade relations and global economic concerns.

Spot gold was stable at US$3,351.49 an ounce as of 0609 GMT. US gold futures also held steady at US$3,375.

"We potentially see dip-buyers coming back into the picture and... things are still uncertain, especially surrounding the trade relationship between China and US and even in EU and US as well," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst, Asia Pacific at OANDA.

However, "the JOLTS job data helped sooth some concerns about the potential economic hit on the US economy from tariffs, which is keeping demand for safety assets for gold in check," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

The White House signaled that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping might engage in talks later this week to address the trade disagreements.

The US should create the necessary conditions for bilateral relations to get back onto "the right track," China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the US ambassador to Beijing.

Job openings in the United States rose in April, though layoffs surged to their highest level in nine months, economic data showed, hinting at softening labor market conditions.

Global economic concerns deepened after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned of sharper-than-expected economic slowdown, as the Trump administration's trade policies weigh heavily on the US economy.

"(The OECD report) for sure will be another supporting factor to see safe demand being heated up as well from a medium-term perspective," Wong said.

Federal Reserve officials reiterated their cautious policy stance, citing risks from trade tensions and economic uncertainty.

Gold tends to perform well during economic uncertainty.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.3 per cent at US$34.40 an ounce, platinum rose 0.3 per cent to US$1,076.86 and palladium lost 0.9 per cent to US$1,001.42.

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