Gold firms near 7-week high as markets trim Fed hike bets before payrolls

Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.9% to $61.53 per ounce.

Platinum was little changed at $1,734.49, and palladium rose 1.2% to $1,380.33.

Aug. 6 (Reuters) - Gold rose for the fourth straight session to hit a seven-week high on Thursday, as markets scaled back expectations of U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and awaited the non-farm payrolls report for clues on the central bank's monetary policy path.

Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,261.98 per ounce by 10:24 a.m. EDT (1424 GMT), earlier hitting its highest since June 18. The yellow metal climbed over 4% on Wednesday, its largest daily gain since February.

U.S. gold futures gained 0.4% to $4,322.70.

"A lot of money that was on the sidelines started coming back into gold yesterday with some technical levels being breached," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at StoneX.

Haberkorn added that the Fed outlook remains the main driver for gold and Friday's U.S. jobs data will influence what the central bank says on interest rates, adding that if the report comes in with a big miss, it could quickly negate the entire upside move in gold.

Traders are currently pricing in about a 57% chance of a rate hike at the central bank's September meeting, down from 65% last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Higher interest rates raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, making gold less attractive to investors.

Oil prices rose on Thursday as investors remained cautious on the outcome of Iran-Oman talks.