Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Friday edged higher on
cautious investor optimism over additional U.S. stimulus, while
news that drugmaker Pfizer slashed the target for the rollout of
its COVID-19 vaccine also helped lift the allure of the
safe-haven metal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was up 0.1% at $1,841.90 per ounce by 049
GMT, holding near previous session's peak of $1843.80 - highest
in more than a week. Bullion has added about 3% so far in the
week.
* U.S. gold futures GCv1 were up 0.2% at $1,844.60.
* Pfizer Inc PFE.N has said in recent weeks that it
anticipates producing 50 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine
this year. That is down from an earlier target of 100 million
doses. * With U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations topping 100,000 for
the first time, California's governor said stay-at-home orders
could be imposed in every region of the state except the San
Francisco Bay Area later this week. * A bipartisan, $908 billion coronavirus aid plan gained
momentum in the U.S. Congress on Thursday as conservative
lawmakers expressed their support and Senate and House of
Representatives leaders huddled. * Gold tends to benefit from stimulus measures as it raises
the prospect of inflation which bullion is used to hedge
against.
* Underscoring the economic impact of the pandemic, data on
Thursday showed U.S. weekly jobless claims fell last week, but
remained extraordinarily high, while U.S. services industry
activity slowed to a six-month low in November.
* Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.1% to 1,189.82 tonnes
on Thursday from 1,191.28 tonnes on Wednesday.
* Silver XAG= was steady at $24.07 per ounce, while
platinum XPT= rose 0.1% to $1,030.50 and palladium XPD=
gained 0.5% to $2,313.00.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 Germany Oct. Industrial Orders MM
1330 U.S. Nov. Non-Farm Payrolls
1330 U.S. Nov. Unemployment Rate
1500 U.S. Oct. Factory Orders MM