BENGALURU, June 2 (Reuters) - Gold was steady on Thursday
after overnight losses, with markets assessing whether the
latest set of U.S. economic data boosted the prospects of an
early interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,212.70 per ounce
by 0048 GMT. It fell 0.2 percent on Wednesday to close at
$1,212.40.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 was nearly flat at $1,215.20
* U.S. manufacturing grew for a third straight month in May,
but factories appeared to be taking in fewer deliveries from
their suppliers, which could hamper production in the months
ahead.
* Other data on Wednesday showed automobile sales rising
last month from April, extending the recent flow of relatively
strong data that suggested economic growth was regaining speed
in the second quarter.
* Inflation pressures grew slightly across most of the
United States from April to mid-May, the Fed said on Wednesday
in a report that also pointed to rising labour costs for
American companies.
* Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to testify to the
Senate Banking Committee on the U.S. central bank's semi-annual
monetary policy report on June 21, the panel said.
* The dollar dipped to 109.36 yen JPY= from a high of
110.830 overnight as a big drop in Tokyo stocks fuelled bids for
the safe-haven currency.
* Asian shares were steady on Thursday as Wall Street eked
out modest gains, while the resurgent yen pressured equity
markets in Japan. MKTS/GLOB
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.24 percent to 870.74
tonnes on Wednesday, the highest since November 2013.
* As the Fed prepares the ground for another interest rate
hike, most other central banks are moving in the opposite
direction. And the divergence is widening.
* Ghana expects to produce 2.7 million ounces of gold in
2016, down only marginally from last year as new production
offsets a decline in output due to lower global prices and
ageing mines, the Chamber of Mines said. For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0900 Euro zone producer prices Apr
1145 European Central Bank interest rate announcement
1215 U.S. ADP national employment May
1230 U.S. weekly jobless claims
1345 U.S. ISM-New York index May