PRECIOUS-Gold ekes out gains, languishes near 2010 low

* Silver up slightly after hitting 2-1/2-month low
* Expectations of U.S. rate hike in December support dollar

BEIJING, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Gold eked out small gains on
Wednesday as another bomb scare in Europe and gunfire in Paris
fuelled tentative safe-haven bids, but a firm dollar kept a lid
on prices that hit their lowest in nearly six years earlier in
the session.
Silver XAG= tracked bullion, returning to positive
territory after dropping to a 2-1/2-month low, while platinum
XPT= languished at a seven-year low.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.07 percent at $1,071.4 an ounce at
0752 GMT, after falling to $1,064.95 earlier, the lowest since
February 2010. U.S. gold futures GCZ5 for December delivery
were up 0.11 percent at $1,069.7.
Bullion prices have fallen for 14 out of 16 sessions under
pressure from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is set
to raise interest rates next month.
Data on Tuesday showing U.S. consumer prices increased in
October further fuelled those expectations. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13C0UU
But bullion managed to regain some lost ground late in Asia
trading as the dollar eased slightly to 99.477 against a basket
of currencies .DXY . This, however, was not too far off its
7-month highs of 99.756 hit earlier in the session. FRX/
"We saw a pop in the last few days, but the knee jerk
reaction didn't really last. The overriding factor has been the
rising dollar and the expectation of Fed hiking rates in
December," said Victor Thianpiriya, analyst at ANZ.
However, heightened security concerns in Europe after Friday
night's attacks in Paris in which 129 people were killed
continue to underpin gold's safe-have appeal.
German authorities called off a soccer game which Chancellor
Angela Merkel was due to attend, citing threats of bombing,
while two Air France flights to Paris from the United States
have been diverted. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13D24J
Gunfire also erupted in a north Paris suburb early on
Wednesday as special police forces launched an operation to
catch one of the suspects believed to be behind last week's gun
and bomb attacks. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13D08U