PRECIOUS-Gold rises on bargain hunting, focus on U.S. payrolls data

* ECB beefs up its bond-buying programme
* Markets awaiting U.S. payrolls report on Friday
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global coronavirus
spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser

(Adds comments, details, updates prices)
By K. Sathya Narayanan
June 4 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Thursday as investors took
advantage of the previous session's steep price decline to buy
the metal, with markets awaiting the release of Friday's U.S.
non-farm payrolls data for May.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.9% to $1,713.37 per ounce by 1249
GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 climbed 0.8% to $1,719.10.
"There are quite a few market participants still
bargain-hunting gold given the fundamental backdrop of the
coronavirus crisis and ongoing recession," Julius Baer analyst
Carsten Menke said.
Gold fell 1.7% on Wednesday, its biggest daily drop since
end-April, as global equities climbed on expectations of a
recovery in the world economy.
However, investors are still waiting to see whether the
easing of restrictions will lead to a second wave of infections,
supporting demand for gold, Menke added.
The metal rose to a more than seven-year high last month,
helped by a wave of stimulus measures from global central banks
and lower interest rates. It is often seen as a hedge against
inflation and currency debasement.
The European Central Bank on Thursday beefed up its
bond-buying program. "(The) long-term picture for gold remains quite good,"
Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said, adding that bullion is
holding well despite the recent rally in equities, with
gold-backed exchange-traded funds seeing strong demand.
MKTS/GLOB
Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed ETF, SPDR Gold
Trust GLD , rose to 1,133.37 tonnes on Wednesday, the highest
since April 2013.
Elsewhere, palladium XPD= fell 0.8% to $1,934.02 an ounce,
while platinum XPT= rose 1% to $833.91. Silver XAG= was up
0.5% to $17.76, having hit a more than three-month high of
$18.36 on Monday.
"Some people are buying silver just because it's much
cheaper than gold (or) platinum," a trader from Tokyo-based
retailer Tokuriki Honten said.