MANILA, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold steadied near $1,280 an
ounce on Thursday after rising the most since late April the
session before, supported by a weaker dollar and equities.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was unchanged at $1,277.36 an ounce by
0041 GMT, after climbing off two-week lows overnight.
Wednesday's nearly 1-percent gain was bullion's strongest since
April 29.
* U.S. gold for June delivery GCcv1 rose 0.3 percent to
$1,279.20 an ounce.
* Gold has risen more than 20 percent this year, benefiting
from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to
raise interest rates anytime soon.
* Thailand's only active gold mine has yet to receive a
formal order from the ruling military government to shut down
over claims it was responsible for contamination suffered by
villagers and will continue to operate, the mine's Australian
owner said.
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, stood at 27.07 million ounces
on Wednesday, the highest since December 2013. HLDSPDRGT=XAU
* India's gold imports could hit a record-high this year
amid widespread smuggling to sidestep government levies on
overseas shipments, said Australia and New Zealand Bank, Asia's
biggest shipper of physical gold.
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MARKET NEWS
* The dollar struggled to hold its own after its rebound
from a near 1-1/2 year low against a basket of currencies run
out of steam, with doubts over global growth prospects hobbling
the U.S. currency. USD/
* Asian shares fell following a dismal day on Wall Street,
while crude oil futures gave back some of their overnight gains
after jumping on an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories.
MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)
0600 Germany Wholesale price index Apr
0900 Euro zone Industrial output Mar
1100 Bank of England interest rate decision
1230 U.S. Import prices Apr
1230 U.S. Export prices Apr
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims