Gold prices continued to struggle near the lowest level in almost four months during Europe's session on Thursday, as market players looked ahead to data on U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Friday for fresh clues on the likelihood of a December rate hike.

Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped $1.20, or 0.09%, to $1,267.40 a troy ounce by 3:10AM ET (07:10GMT).

The contract fell to $1,264.10 on Wednesday, a level not seen since June 24, after robust U.S. service sector data added to speculation that the Federal Reserve is gearing up to hike interest rates at its December meeting.

Investors are pricing in a 60% chance of a rate hike by December. November odds were at around 15%.

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