By Polya Lesova
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures traded below $1,000 an ounce early Friday, as traders awaited the Labor Department's report on non-farm payrolls for September. Gold for November delivery dropped $3.30, or 0.3%, to $997.40 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday high of $1,003.40 an ounce. Gold "could be in for a choppy session, as markets react to key economic data and position themselves ahead of the weekend G7 meeting," said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, in a note to clients. Overall, "gold remains at risk to a deeper correction as falling risk appetite could spook some of the recently added fund longs." Economists project that U.S. nonfarm payrolls probably fell by 167,000 in September to about 131 million. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday.
