* Gold on track to post its third weekly fall

* Spot gold may fall more into $1,307-$1,312/oz range -technicals

* Investors await U.S. non-farm payroll data due later inthe day

(Updates prices)

By Eileen Soreng

March 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices extended losses into a thirdsession on Friday as the dollar strengthened against the yen onhopes of easing tensions between the United States and NorthKorea and ahead of U.S. non-farm payroll data later in the day.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was preparedto meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first U.S.-NorthKorea summit, marking a potentially dramatic breakthrough innuclear tensions with Pyongyang. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1QQ239

"We are seeing reactions to the Trump-Kim Jong Un'spotential for a discussion prompting a risk-on trade and that isputting some pressure on safe haven assets," said a Hong Kongbased trader.

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.3 percent at $1,318.06 per ounceas of 0737 GMT and was on track to post its third weeklydecline. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery fell 0.2percent to $1,319 per ounce.

Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.4 percent to 106.67 yen JPY= , inching away from a low of 105.24 yen on March 2, thegreenback's weakest level since November 2016. USD/

The U.S. dollar had tumbled to 16-month lows against thesafe-haven yen late last week as fears of a trade war rattledmarkets after Trump announced his plan for imposing tariffs onimported steel and aluminium.

"We are moderately bearish on gold prices, and see therising yield environment as a headwind," analysts at SocieteGenerale said in a note.

"That being said, we think U.S. rate hikes are alreadypriced in for 2018, and ETF holdings have been very stable inrecent history," analysts said, adding that they see gold pricesat $1,275 per ounce in six months.

Spot gold may fall more into a range of $1,307-$1,312 perounce, as it has pierced below a support at $1,317, according toReuters technical analyst Wang Tao. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QR1YH

Investors were waiting on the release of the U.S. jobsreport later on Friday that will include data on non-farmpayrolls and average hourly earnings.

"I think today the market might get a little short, feelingthat we will have good numbers and that risk is on," the HongKong based trader said.

In other precious metals, silver XAG= slipped 0.3 percentto $16.45 per ounce.

Platinum XPT= inched down 0.1 percent to $951.00 perounce, while palladium XPD= declined 0.44 percent to $972.20per ounce.

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in BengaluruEditing by Richard Pullin and Subhranshu Sahu) ((eileen.soreng@thomsonreuters.com; Within U.S. +1 651 8485832, Outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6131; Reuters Messaging:eileen.soreng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))