Nov 24 (Reuters) - Gold held on to losses early Thursday from the previous session, when it fell 2 percent, as the dollar remained strong on expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike in December.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was down 0.2 percent to $1,185.68 an ounce by 0040 GMT. In the previous session, the metal fell 2 percent to touch a 9-1/2-month low of $1,181.45.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.5 percent to $1,184 per ounce.
* The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.1 percent at 101.780.
* New orders for U.S. manufactured capital goods rebounded in October, driven by rising demand for machinery and a range of other equipment, the latest indication of an acceleration in economic growth early in the fourth quarter. Federal Reserve policymakers appeared confident on the eve of the U.S. presidential election that the economy was strengthening enough to warrant interest rate increases soon, minutes from the Fed's Nov. 1-2 meeting showed. Gold is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
* Russia and Kazakhstan continued to boost their gold reserves in October, data from the International Monetary Fund showed on Wednesday. Zimbabwe's mining chamber said on Wednesday it expected the government to further defer or scrap altogether a 15 percent tax on raw platinum ore exports because mining companies had made enough progress towards building smelters. Zimbabwe recorded a 14 percent rise in gold production and a 20 percent rise in platinum output during the first nine months of this year despite weak commodity prices and cash shortages, the mining chamber said on Wednesday. Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) on Wednesday lowered its gold forecasts and expects the metal to average $1,300 per ounce in 2017, $1,275 in 2018. SPDR Gold Trust GLD (NYSE:GLD), the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 1.47 percent to 891.57 tonnes on Wednesday from Tuesday. For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany
Detailed GDP
Q3
0745 France
Business climate
Nov
0900 Germany
Ifo business climate
Nov
1200 Germany
GfK consumer sentiment Dec