SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Gold held above a three-week
low on Wednesday as the dollar nursed losses, but prices
remained range-bound as traders waited for direction from the
Federal Reserve on the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had edged up 0.2 percent to $1,123.11 an
ounce by 0024 GMT, above a three-week low of $1,116.20 reached
earlier in the week. The metal snapped a four-day losing streak
on Tuesday, getting some reprieve from a softer dollar.
* Friday's U.S. payrolls data failed to provide clarity on
the timing of the Fed's first interest rate rise in nearly a
decade.
* Markets are now eyeing the Fed's next policy meeting on
Sept. 16-17 for clues.
* The prospect of higher rates, which would lift the
opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting
the dollar, has weighed on gold prices this year.
* The Fed should hold off on raising interest rates until
the global economy is more stable, the World Bank's chief
economist said in an interview with the Financial Times
published on Tuesday.
* Gold has failed to attract strong investor interest as a
safe haven despite the recent weakness in stocks due to worries
over the Chinese economy, showing that the metal is struggling
to find direction outside U.S. monetary policy, analysts say.
* South Africa's mining industry, unions and the government
want to boost platinum's sagging fortunes by promoting it as a
central bank reserve asset, but upgrading the metal to gold's
coveted financial status will be an uphill struggle.
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* Asian markets caught a tailwind on Wednesday after upbeat
German economic data powered gains in the U.S. and Europe, while
the safe-haven yen slipped as investors' mood turned positive.
* The dollar was mixed on Tuesday as rallying stock markets
and positive German economic data gave global investors reasons
to throttle down the risk aversion tactics that recently boosted
the euro and yen.
PRICES AT 0024 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1123.11 1.71 0.15
Spot silver 14.805 -0.005 -0.03
Spot platinum 1005.1 2.25 0.22
Spot palladium 591.72 7.57 1.3
Comex gold 1122.6 1.6 0.14
Comex silver 14.815 0.06 0.41
Euro 1.119
DXY 95.971
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months