Gold gains to narrow weekly drop before US jobs data

London, Dec 6. Gold today rose, narrowing a weekly drop as investors weighed the outlook for more demand at prices near a five-month low against improving US data that may give clues to when the Federal Reserve will slow stimulus. Gold added 0.5 per cent to USD 1,231.38 an ounce. Silver also rose 0.7 per cent to USD 19.54 an ounce, set for a 2.4 per cent weekly loss. It dropped to USD 18.90 on Wednesday, the lowest since July 8. Gold is set to drop 1.8 per cent this week after tumbling to USD 1,211.75 an ounce on December 4, the lowest since July 5. Bullion is set for the first annual drop in 13 years as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and on speculation the Fed will begin paring its 85 billion dollar in monthly bond purchases as the economy picks up. Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded products fell 1 tonne to 1,831.2 tonnes yesterday, the lowest since March 2010.