SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Gold was trading near its
lowest in over a week on Thursday, hurt by a stronger dollar and
an overnight sell-off following the metal's failure to breach a
key technical level.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,166.40 an ounce by 0043
GMT. It fell to $1,163.50 on Wednesday, the lowest since Oct.
13, before paring some losses to close down 0.8 percent.
* Bullion briefly burst through its 200-day moving average
around $1,175 per ounce on Wednesday for a sixth straight day,
before easing back more than $10 to a session low.
* Its failure to hold above long-term resistance undermined
sentiment and increased selling pressure, traders said.
* The metal was also hurt by strength in the dollar, which
rose on Wednesday as investors clamoured for safety against
emerging market currencies and commodity-linked units following
a slide in the Chinese stock market. USD/
* A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold
expensive for holders of other currencies.
* Bullion investors will be keeping a close watch on the
currency markets for trading cues. The European Central Bank
meets later on Thursday and is likely to stop short of actually
taking new policy steps as it awaits fresh indications about the
outlook for flagging euro zone inflation. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12L31N
* Attention will also be on U.S. data due later in the
session as traders hunt for clues about the strength of the
economy and how it could impact the Federal Reserve's monetary
policy.
* Uncertainty over the timing of a looming U.S. rate hike
has weighed on the metal. Market expectations for a hike have
shifted to next year in recent weeks amid concerns about the
global economy, although some haven't completely ruled out a
rate rise in December on recent robust U.S. economic data.
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MARKET NEWS
* The euro struggled to break above its recent ranges ahead
of the ECB meeting later on Thursday.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0645 France Business climate Oct
1145 European Central Bank announces policy meeting outcome
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1230 U.S. National Activity index Sep
1300 U.S. Monthly home price index Aug
1400 Euro zone Consumer confidence Oct
1400 U.S. Existing home sales Sep
1400 U.S. Leading index Sep
PRICES AT 0043 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1166.4 -0.3 -0.03
Spot silver 15.69 0.01 0.06
Spot platinum 1000.5 1 0.1
Spot palladium 674 2 0.3
Comex gold 1166.6 -0.5 -0.04
Comex silver 15.685 -0.025 -0.16
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months