PRECIOUS-Gold steady; all eyes on US jobs data, Fed Chair's speech

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US payrolls data due on Friday

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Fed policymakers steer clear of December rate cut guidance

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Spot gold may test support at $2,621 - technicals

(Adds analyst comments in paragraphs 5 and 6, graphics and updates prices)

By Rahul Paswan

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied on Wednesday as markets awaited U.S. jobs data and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for further insights into the U.S. interest rate cut trajectory.

Spot gold held its ground at $2,644.42 per ounce, as of 0203 GMT.

U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $2,666.40.

The U.S. ADP employment report is due at 1315 GMT, ahead of the U.S. payrolls report on Friday. Powell is scheduled to speak later in the day in what is expected to be his last public remarks before the Fed's December meeting.

The primary factor behind gold's lacklustre movement is that markets anticipated a much shallower U.S. rate cut cycle for 2025, said Kelvin Wong, OANDA's senior market analyst for Asia Pacific.

However, the longer-term bullish trend for gold remains intact amid rising trade tensions and potential strain on U.S. budget deficits, he added.

U.S. central bankers signalled support for further cuts, but none pushed strongly for or against doing so at their next meeting in two weeks. Officials have been wary of giving too much guidance about how policy will likely evolve, particularly since President-elect Donald Trump's re-election last month.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, traders see about 73% chance of a 25-basis-points reduction by the Fed this month, with 80 bps of cuts expected by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, data on Tuesday showed that U.S. job openings increased moderately in October while layoffs declined. A strong jobs report could lead the Fed to take a cautious stance on cutting rates.

Non-yielding bullion thrives in low interest rate environment.

According to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao, spot gold may test support at $2,621 per ounce, a break below could open the way towards the $2,594-$2,608 range.

Spot silver rose 0.1% to $31.06 per ounce, platinum dropped 0.2% to $951.90 and palladium shed 0.3% to $968.89.

(Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sumana Nandy)