* U.S. non-farm payrolls data beats expectations
* Dollar rises to 7-week high against currency basket
* Indian gold buying picked up as prices retreated
By David Brough
LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Gold prices fell to their lowest
level since late August on Friday, sliding more than 1 percent
as the dollar jumped after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data
in the last major signal on the state of the economy before
elections next Tuesday.
Payrolls data showed employers added 171,000 jobs in October
versus forecasts of 125,000, while the jobless rate met
expectations at 7.9 percent.
The dollar, having already hit a seven-week high in
the run-up to the data, extended gains against the euro,
helping push gold through key resistance levels.
Spot gold was down 1.8 percent at $1,684.36 at 1509
GMT, having earlier hit an eight-week low of $1,682.89. It is on
track to post its biggest one-day fall since mid-June.
U.S. gold futures for December fell $29.90 an ounce
to $1,685.60.
Continued…
