* Fed Chair Yellen's testimony begins later Tuesday
* Betting odds weigh towards Britain remaining in EU
(Updates prices, adds comment)
By Clara Denina
LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - Gold fell to a ten-day low on
Tuesday as global shares rose and expectations that Britain
could vote to leave the European Union in Thursday's referendum
receded.
Two opinion polls on Monday showed the "Remain" camp had
recovered some ground in the referendum debate though a third
poll found those wanting to leave were ahead by a whisker.
"With the odds for a "Brexit" outcome lower, riskier assets
increased and gold is coming under increasing pressure," ABN
Amro analyst Georgette Boele said.
Spot gold XAU= fell as much as 1.5 percent to a low of
$1,269.51 an ounce and was down 1.3 percent at $1,273.76 by 1310
GMT. U.S. gold GCcv1 dropped 1.2 percent to $1,276.70.
"Wider markets seem to be too confident in a 'remain'
victory," said Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner, adding that a
decision to stay in the European Union could mean the U.S.
Federal Reserve could get on with raising interest rates, which
would be negative for gold.
A vote to leave would instead strengthen the dollar and
limit any gold rally, Turner added.
Gold touched a near-two year high at $1,315.55 last week due
to uncertainty around the outcome of the UK referendum and after
a cautious note from the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
The market will watch Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimony
before the Senate Banking Committee later on Tuesday for any
clues on the timing of the next interest rate rise.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, which
lift the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal.
European shares steadied and U.S. stock index futures rose
while the British pound set a seven-week high against the
dollar. MKTS/GLOB FRX/
In other news, the United Kingdom was the main destination
for Swiss gold exports for a third straight month in May, data
from the Swiss customs bureau showed on Tuesday, as investment
in bullion-backed funds based in Britain continued.
Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.10 percent to 908.77
tonnes on Monday, the highest since September 2013. GOL/ETF
"We think that gold is under short-term volatility, but
longer-term factors driving the gold demand are still intact,"
said Richard Xu, fund manager of China's top gold
exchange-traded fund (ETF) HuaAn Gold.
"We think that gold could be a very good buying opportunity
if it pulls back a little bit," Xu said.
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= fell 1 percent to
$17.32 an ounce, platinum XPT= was down 1.1 percent at $975.78
an ounce and palladium XPD= dropped 0.9 percent to $541.75 an
ounce.