BENGALURU, June 20 (Reuters) - Gold fell 1 percent in early
trade on Monday as opinion polls indicated an increasing
possibility of Britain opting to remain in the European Union in
a referendum later this week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had dropped 1.1 percent to $1,284.50 an
ounce by 0044 GMT. Bullion, which rose 2 percent last week,
touched a low of $1,281.05 an ounce on Monday.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 slid 0.5 percent to $1,287.90
* Asian stocks gained early on Monday as rising expectations
of Britain voting to remain in the EU lifted risk sentiment and
the pound jumped against its peers. MKTS/GLOB
* A vote on June 23 by Britain to leave the 28-member EU,
dubbed "Brexit," could tip Europe back into recession, putting
more pressure on the global economy.
* Three opinion polls ahead of Thursday's vote showed the
'Remain' camp recovering some momentum, although the overall
picture remained one of an evenly split electorate.
* U.S. stock markets could see heavy trading and increased
volatility this week as investors position for the British
referendum.
* The U.S. economy may only need one rate hike for as long
as 2-1/2 years and the Federal Reserve is eroding its
credibility by indicating otherwise, St. Louis Fed President
James Bullard said.
* The New York Fed lowered its forecasts for U.S. economic
growth in the second and third quarter largely due to recent
negative data on domestic manufacturing activity.
* Hedge funds and money managers took their bullish stance
in gold to the highest in nearly five years in the week to June
14, U.S. government data showed.
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.59 percent to 907.88
tonnes on Friday, the highest since September 2013. GOL/ETF
* INTL FCStone Inc INTL.O has hiked the amount of cash
customers have to deposit with them to trade gold, silver and
sterling futures, a relatively rare step that shows financial
firms are bracing for volatile trading ahead of Britain's vote
on Europe.
* Russia's largest gold producer Polyus PLZL.MM plans to
sell 5 percent of its existing shares on the Moscow bourse when
market conditions are right, Chief Executive Pavel Grachev told
Reuters on Friday.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET REPORT
* The pound climbed 0.9 percent, extending a recovery from
last week's two-month trough of $1.4013. It jumped 1.7 percent
to 151.75 yen GBPJPY= R, pulling well away from a three-year
trough of 145.34 set on Thursday. USD/
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0600 Germany producer prices May