PRECIOUS-Gold prices ease as investors brace for upcoming U.S. jobs data

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Platinum rises to highest level since 2011

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US Nov non-farm payrolls, unemployment rate data due at 1330 GMT

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CPI and PCE data due later this week

(Rewrites for EMEA morning session)

By Pablo Sinha

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Tuesday as investors grew cautious ahead of key U.S. jobs data due later in the day, as it is expected to shed light on future Federal Reserve interest rate cut prospects.

Spot gold lost 0.6% to $4,277.20 per ounce, as of 1102 GMT. Bullion has rallied 64% year-to-date.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.7% at $4,305.30.

"Gold is on the back foot this morning as investors take profit ahead of key U.S. data that will shape Fed rate expectations next year," said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM, adding that weakness below the psychological $4,300 mark is also keeping bears in the picture.

The combined employment reports for October and November are in focus, though a number of key details will be missing due to a lack of data collection following the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 50,000 jobs in November following an anticipated decline in October, a Reuters survey of economists predicted, while the unemployment rate was estimated to come in at 4.4% last month.

Investors will also scrutinize November's Consumer Price index and Personal Consumption Expenditures index, due later this week, for further clues on monetary policy next year.

Non-yielding bullion typically thrives in lower-rate environments.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 1.5% to $62.98 an ounce, after touching a record high of $64.65 on Friday.

"Silver remains influenced by the same forces pressuring gold - a wave of profit-taking and ETF outflows ahead of high-impact US economic releases," said Otunuga.

However, the metal is up 118% for the year, buoyed by physical market tightness, the same macro-economic factors supporting gold, industrial demand and its inclusion in the U.S. critical minerals list.

Elsewhere, spot platinum rose 1.3% to $1,805.85, its highest level since September 2011, while palladium edged lower by 0.2% to $1,563.69, but hovered near a two-month high.

The European Commission is set to backtrack on the EU's ban on new combustion-engine cars from 2035, a move that is "likely to be supportive for internal combustion vehicles, which use platinum and palladium," said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree.

This year's gold and silver rally has also drawn investor attention to platinum and palladium, he added. (Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)