* Markets still uncertain over timeframe for Fed rate hike
* Dollar index surrenders early gains to steady
* Paulson & Co cuts stake in biggest gold ETF
(Updates throughout, changes dateline, pvs MANILA)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Monday, building
on its biggest weekly rise in three months, on lingering
uncertainty over the implications of China's yuan devaluation.
Concerns over China sparked a rally in gold to its highest
since mid-July at $1,126.31 an ounce last week, in the wake of
Beijing's mini-devaluation of the yuan.
Analysts speculated that a weakening Chinese currency could
prompt the Federal Reserve to postpone a rise in U.S. interest
rates, which had been expected as soon as next month.
Expectations for a rise in rates this year, which would lift
the opportunity cost of holding gold while boosting the dollar,
pushed the metal to a 5-1/2-year low of $1,077 last month.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.3 percent at $1,116.55 an ounce at
1106 GMT, while U.S. gold futures GCv1 for December delivery
were up $3.20 an ounce at $1,115.90.
"The market is digesting what longer-term ramifications this
devaluation has," Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) analyst Robin Bhar said. "It
has been comforted by the fact that the yuan rose in the last
few days because of soothing comments from the PBOC, but it is
convinced that this is a longer-term threat."
"It was unclear what the Fed was going to do with rates even
before this, given the unpredictability of the U.S. data. Now
there is even more uncertainty. What's critical for gold is
whether we get any more safe-haven bids coming out, or whether
rallies will be sold into."
Minutes from the Fed's July 28-29 meeting on Wednesday will
offer vital clues about its plan to hike rates for the first
time since 2006. Rebounding retail sales, solid jobs growth and
rising construction all point to a move next month.
Relief over stability in China's yuan exchange rate helped
European stocks bounce back from their worst week in six, while
the dollar steadied off earlier highs.
A filing showed on Friday that hedge fund Paulson & Co cut
its stake in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund in the second quarter of 2015, after keeping it unchanged
for six straight quarters.
Hedge funds and money managers sharply cut their net short
position in COMEX gold contracts in the week ended Aug. 11, but
short positions remain "crowded", Barclays (LONDON:BARC) Capital said in a
note.
"We continue to see extremely short positioning as a
potential source of volatility for gold," it said.
Spot silver XAG= was up 0.1 percent at $15.23 an ounce,
while platinum XPT= was flat at $989.25 an ounce and palladium
XPD was little changed at $615.40.