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Silver hit a record high of $58.98/oz on Wednesday

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US private payrolls fell by 32,000 jobs data on Wednesday

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Investors price in 89% of a rate cut in December - CME

FedWatch

(Updates prices for Asia session close)

By Ishaan Arora and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gold dipped on Thursday as investors

booked profits and turned cautious ahead of next week's U.S.

Federal Reserve meeting, awaiting data for clearer cues on the

central bank's interest rate outlook.

Spot gold slipped 0.5% at $4,179.71 per ounce, as of

0617 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were

down 0.5% at $4,210.20 per ounce.

"With investors a bit cautious ahead of the FOMC (Federal

Open Market Committee) meeting, the market is largely pricing

that the Fed will cut by 25 basis points... What the market needs

now is a fresh trigger for (gold) prices to move higher," ANZ

commodity strategist Soni Kumari said.

Kumari flagged ongoing profit-taking and said any slide

toward $4,000 would likely attract new buyers, given gold's

strong fundamental backing.

U.S. private payrolls dropped by 32,000 in November, the

sharpest fall in more than two and a half years, according to

the ADP employment report on Wednesday, though still-low layoffs

suggest the weakness may not reflect the true health of the

labor market.

Markets now assign an 89% chance of a rate cut next week,

according to the CME's FedWatch tool, while major brokerages

also expect easing at the December 9-10 meeting.

Lower interest rates tend to favour non-yielding assets such

as gold.

Focus is now on U.S. weekly jobless claims data later in the

day and delayed September Personal Consumption Expenditures

(PCE) Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due Friday.

Meanwhile, silver fell 2.1% to $57.22 after touching

a record high of $58.98 on Wednesday.

Silver has risen 101% so far this year due to concerns about

market liquidity after outflows to U.S. stocks, its inclusion in

the U.S. critical minerals list and a structural supply deficit.

"Since mid-November, Shanghai silver inventories have run

back at a low of around 531 to about 700 tons, the lowest since

2015 as exports from China have majorly increased," said Ajay

Kedia, director at Mumbai-based Kedia Commodities.

Platinum lost 0.9% to $1,640.30, while palladium

slid 1.4% to $1,439.91.