Investing.com - Gold was mostly flat in Asia on Thursday amid a slew of data that pointed to a mixed view on manufacturing in the region and with China markets shut for a holiday.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery fell 0.02% to $1,115.00 a troy ounce, while silver for December delivery rose 0.32% to $14.565 a troy ounce.
Copper for December delivery surged 1.45% to $2.374 a pound.
Today, China starts a week-long holiday to mark the country's National Day, but surveys on manufacturing and services were released.
The official CFLP manufacturing PMI improved slightly to 49.8 in September, and beat an expectation of 49.6, as it inched toward expansion territory above 50 thanks to strong gains in new orders and production.
The Caixin manufacturing PMI for September came in as expected at 47.2 and above the flash manufacturing PMI reading of 47.0, the lowest since March 2009.
The Caixin Services index came in at 50.5, compared to 51.5 in August.
The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed the large manufacturing index in the latest quarter at +12, from +15 in June and a +13 expected.
The figures show that a further Chinese slowdown and unstable stock markets are making many manufacturers more cautious.
Backed by record profits, companies have high capital investment plans but they are putting some of them on hold until prospects improve, likely leading the BoJ to maintain the pace of its asset purchases at its two-day policy meeting on Oct. 6-7 in the absence of a major external shock that could threaten the path to stable 2% inflation.
But at its Oct. 30 meeting, the BoJ board is likely to lower its median GDP and CPI forecasts for fiscal 2015 as exports, spending and capex remain weak.
In Australia, the AI Group manufacturing index rose 0.4 point to 52.1, the third straight monthly gain.
Overnight, gold futures fell sharply ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday afternoon, as optimistic U.S. employment data bolstered hawkish arguments for an interest rate hike by the U.S. central bank.
Yellen on Wednesday pointed to the "significant improvement" the economy has made in recent years as she spoke Wednesday about the challenges facing the nation's community banks.
Yellen avoided further comments on the economy or on monetary policy less than a week after she said the Fed had moved far enough toward achieving its employment and inflation goals that an initial hike in the federal funds rate is likely "sometime later this year."
On Wednesday morning, payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 200,000 in September, above analysts' expectations of a 190,000 gain. In August, the economy added only 186,000 non-farm private positions, a figure that was downwardly revised from a previous total of 190,000. By comparison, though, the initial government report only showed a spike of 140,000 jobs last month.
The reading provides optimism for Friday's highly-anticipated national employment report, one which is expected to be closely watched by the Fed. Earlier this month, the Federal Open Market Committee indicated that it wanted to see further improvement in the labor market before it rose its benchmark Federal Funds Rate for the first time in nearly a decade.
A rate hike by the FOMC is viewed as bearish for gold, which struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets.
When the U.S. Department of Labor releases its September jobs report on Friday, it is expected to show that the economy added 203,000 non-farm payrolls this month, up from a subpar gain of 173,000 in August. Restrained by weakness in energy equipment and soft exports, manufacturing jobs fell by 17,000 last month. A downturn in commodities also resulted in a decline of 9,000 in mining positions. The losses were offset by a 33,000 gain in professional and business service jobs, as well as an 11,000 rise in temporarily held positions.