Gold backs off nine-year high, dollar loses ground

Gold futures tilted lower in Asian trade off September 11 highs as the dollar index backed off June 2 highs, ahead of US services data. 

As of 04:48 GMT, gold futures due in August fell 0.38% to $1,780 an ounce, while the dollar index shed 0.22% to 96.96. 

Investors await the services PMI report from Markit, expected to show a contraction to 47. 

The US Department of Labor revealed last week that the economy added 4.8 million new jobs in June, beating forecasts of 3 million jobs.

The unemployment rate fell to 11.1% in June, vs. 13.3% in May.

While the unemployment claims reached 1.420 million during the past week vs. forecasts of 1.350 million.

The World Health Organization reported over 200 thousand cases of Covid 19 worldwide in the last 24 hours, a new record high, with US cases spiking.. with the death toll globally surpassing 528,00. 

Asian stocks are rallying with China leading the charge as the People's Bank of China prepares to ease monetary policy further with risk appetite rebounding as Covid 19 cases in China fizzle out.