PRECIOUS-Gold recoups some losses as dollar steadies

* Gold fell 1.4% on Wednesday, worst day since Aug. 19
* Recovery in China's service sector lifts stocks
* Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
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(Adds comments, details, updates prices)
By Brijesh Patel
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Gold on Thursday recouped some of the
previous session's hefty losses as the dollar steadied, although
gains were capped by an uptick in risk appetite on recent
better-than-expected economic data.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.2% at $1,945.59 per ounce by 0340
GMT, after falling 1.4% on Wednesday in its biggest one-day drop
since Aug. 19 on a firmer dollar and rebound in U.S.
manufacturing activity.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.4% to $1,952.20.
"Gold is tracking inversely the moves in the dollar... and
part of the reason gold has not capitalised as much after
Jackson Hole is risk appetite seems strong," said DailyFx
currency strategist Ilya Spivak.
"Although there is positive growth, the overall economy is
still very very weak in absolute terms and central banks are
expected to remain dovish, which should be supportive for gold."
The dollar index .DXY held steady against a basket of
major currencies after rising 0.6% in the last session. USD/
Meanwhile, data showing a sustained recovery in China's
services sector and the prospect of additional U.S. stimulus
whetted risk appetite, limiting gold's appeal. MKTS/GLOB
The U.S. Federal Reserve, in its "Beige Book" report,
highlighted that U.S. business activity and employment ticked up
through late August, but economic growth was generally sluggish
as COVID-19 hotspots hampered reopening efforts. Gold has gained about 28% so far this year, helped by
ultra-loose monetary policy adopted by major central banks to
mitigate the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak,
which has infected nearly 26 million people worldwide so far.
Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of
holding non-yielding bullion.
Investors now await the initial weekly U.S. jobless claims
report due later in the day, as well as U.S. payroll figures on
Friday, for future direction.
Elsewhere, silver XAG= gained 0.1% to $27.52 per ounce and
platinum XPT= rose 0.5% to $910.47, while palladium XPD=
eased 0.1% to $2,244.76.