PRECIOUS-Gold inches up; attention turns to US jobs report

* ADP employment numbers, Fed's Dec meeting minutes due on Wed * U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday * Softness in U.S. data could open door for gains - analyst * China added gold to its reserves for a second straight month (Adds comment and updates with mid-session trading) By Rahul Paswan Jan 8 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged up on Wednesday, as focus shifted to a key U.S. jobs report due later this week that could influence the Federal Reserve's rate path. Spot gold XAU= rose 0.1% at $2,653.04 per ounce, as of 0844 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 remained unchanged at $2,666.70. "For now gold is stuck in a 'start-of-year' chop-fest as we await full liquidity to return and a fresh catalyst to arrive and Friday's nonfarm payroll report is a top contender," said Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at City Index. Keeping gains in check, the U.S. dollar stood tall on Wednesday after strong U.S. data drove a spike in yields and pared some bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. US/ USD/ U.S. job openings rose to 8.098 million in November, surpassing forecasts and up from 7.839 million recorded in October. Markets are currently pricing in the probability of just one Fed rate cut in 2025, down from two in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The market now awaits the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on Friday for more clues on the Fed's policy path. ADP employment numbers and the minutes from the Fed's December meeting, due later in the day, are also on investors' radar. "Any softness in the U.S. macro data this week could open the door for gains if investors become more optimistic about the deliverance of interest rate cuts from the Fed in 2025," analysts at KCM Trade said in a note. High rates reduce the non-yielding asset's appeal. In addition, China, the world's top consumer of gold, increased its reserves in December for a second consecutive month, according to official data released by the People's Bank of China on Tuesday. Spot silver XAG= added 0.4% to $30.12 per ounce, platinum XPT= gained 0.2% to $952.05 and palladium XPD= shed 0.4% to $922.25. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Spot gold price in USD per oz https://reut.rs/4j4mBIu ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Varun H K) (([email protected] ; If within U.S. +1 646 223 8780))