MANILA, July 30 (Reuters) - Gold hovered not far from a
5-1/2-year low early on Thursday after the Federal Reserve said
the U.S. economy and job market continue to strengthen,
supporting a possibile interest rate rise when the Fed meets
again in September.
Following a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday,
policymakers said they felt the economy had overcome a
first-quarter slowdown and was "expanding moderately" despite a
downturn in the energy sector and headwinds from overseas.
ID:nTLATIEB24
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,096.75 an ounce by 0036
GMT. It sank to as low as $1,077 last week, its weakest since
February 2010, after a selloff in New York and Shanghai and has
since struggled to recover above $1,100.
* U.S. gold for August delivery GCcv1 gained 0.3 percent
to $1,096 an ounce.
* A looming increase in U.S. interest rates, the first since
2006, had weighed on non-interest bearing gold, with some
analysts predicting further falls before and after the actual
rate hike.
* U.S. economic growth is set to pick up after a lackluster
first half, allowing the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates
in September, according to a Reuters poll published last week.
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* The first estimate of second-quarter U.S. gross domestic
product will be released later on Thursday. The economy is seen
returning to growth, expanding by 2.7 percent, after a
contraction in a weather-battered first quarter.
* But contracts to buy previously owned U.S. houses
unexpectedly fell in June after five straight months of
increase, suggesting some cooling in home resales activity after
recent hefty gains. ID:nL1N1091CT
* Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund,
New York's SPDR Gold Trust GLD , were unchanged at 21.87
million ounces for a second day on Tuesday. That level is the
lowest since September 2008 and followed a seven-day slide in
holdings. GOL/ETF
* Kinross Gold Corp K.TO is again considering cutting jobs
at its Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania as the Canadian miner
cuts costs at its higher-cost mines amid sliding metals prices.
ID:nL1N1093GA
* Gold prices are at risk of falling to as low as $1,050 per
ounce, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) global head of commodities research Jeffrey
Currie said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, reinforcing
the bearish outlook for bullion after last week's rout.
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TOP/MTL or GOL/
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar held steady in cautious trade ahead of U.S.
gross domestic product data that could reinforce or dent
expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise
interest rates as early as September. Asian shares were mostly
firm. USD/ MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0755 Germany Unemployment rate July
0900 Euro zone Busines climate July
0900 Euro zone Consumer confidence July
0900 Euro zone Unemployment rate June
1200 Germany Consumer prices July
1230 U.S. GDP advance Q2
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims