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Gold's record high is lowered due to profit-taking and the focus on US job data

Profit-taking led to gold's decline on Thursday, after the bullion reached an all-time high on expectations of a U.S. rate cut. Investors were also looking forward to this week's U.S. employment data.

As of 0153 GMT, spot gold was down 0.3%, at $3,546.73 an ounce. On Wednesday, gold reached a new record of $3.578.50 per ounce.

U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 0.8% to $3.605.60.

Gold is still on a bullish market, despite some profit-taking. "Rate-cut expectations and concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence will add to safe haven demand," GoldSilver Central's MD Brian Lan stated.

"We will not be surprised if the gold price goes up to $3.800 or higher in near-term."

The U.S. Labor Department announced on Wednesday that the number of job openings in July was lower than expected, at 7.181 millions.

Fed officials have said that labor market concerns are still driving them to believe in rate cuts. Fed Governor Christopher Waller believes the Fed should cut rates at its next meeting.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders are now pricing in 97% of a rate cut of 25 basis points at the end the two-day meeting of the U.S. Central Bank on September 17. This is up from 92% prior to the data.

Gold that does not yield is usually a good investment in an environment with low interest rates.

Now, the focus is on Friday's non-farm payroll data in the United States. According to a poll, the non-farm payrolls in August are expected to grow by 78,000 jobs compared to 73,000 in July.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump stated that if the Supreme Court rules against the U.S. in a case regarding tariffs, the U.S. may have to "unwind' trade agreements it has made with the European Union (EU), Japan and South Korea.

Silver fell 0.8%, to $40.87 an ounce. It had reached its highest level since September 2011, in the previous session. Platinum fell 0.5% to $1415.03 while palladium dropped 1% to 1136.26.

(source: Reuters)