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Fed's William says central bank could cut rates in near

term

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Traders see 70% chance of US interest rate cut in December

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Wall Street opens higher

(Updates prices for US midday trading)

By Pablo Sinha

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Friday,

after falling over 1% earlier in the session, as traders boosted

bets on a December U.S. interest rate cut following dovish Fed

comments.

Spot gold was steady at $4,077.19 per ounce, as of

11:45 a.m. ET (1645 GMT), after falling more than 1% earlier in

the session. Bullion is set for a weekly loss of 0.1% so far.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.4% to

$4,076.90 per ounce.

New York Fed President John Williams on Friday said the U.S.

central bank could still trim interest rates in the near term,

without jeopardizing its inflation goal.

The comments "are certainly supportive ... it did give the

gold market bulls some friendly fodder early today," said Jim

Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.

Traders now see a 70% chance of a rate cut at the Fed's next

meeting, compared to 46% earlier in the day.

The delayed jobs report showed a mixed labor market picture,

with nonfarm payrolls rising by 119,000 in October, well above

forecasts for a 50,000 gain, while the unemployment rate climbed

to a four-year high.

Gold, a non-yielding asset, tends to do well in

low-interest-rate environments.

Meanwhile, other Fed members maintained a hawkish stance,

with Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan calling for

leaving the policy rate on hold "for a time."

Traders are also keeping a close eye on U.S. stock markets

as "if the stock market rallies stronger today, that's probably

going to put downside pressure on gold because of the keener

risk appetite in the marketplace," Wyckoff added.

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Friday on

renewed U.S. rate cut hopes, with tech stocks stabilizing after

last session's rout.

Meanwhile, physical gold demand across major Asian markets

remained weak this week, as volatility in rates deterred

potential buyers from making purchases.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 1.2% to $49.99 per ounce,

platinum rose 1.2% to $1,529.00, and palladium

dipped 0.4% to $1,372.44.