MANILA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Gold was trapped in narrow ranges
early on Tuesday, struggling to move higher as investors looked
to a near-term increase in U.S. interest rates in the face of
mostly firm economic signals.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,117.26 an ounce by 0041
GMT, after rising modestly on Monday.
* U.S. gold for December delivery GCcv1 slipped 0.2
percent to $1,116.70 an ounce.
* U.S. homebuilder sentiment rose in August to its highest
level since a matching reading almost a decade ago, the National
Association of Home Builders said. ID:nN9N10A01S
* Solid jobs growth, rebounding retail sales and a housing
sector on the mend suggest the Federal Reserve is on track to
raise interest rates this year, perhaps at the next policy
meeting in September.
* That had weighed on the price of non-interest bearing
gold. There should be more clues on the Fed's thinking regarding
interest rates when the minutes of the U.S. central bank's July
28-29 meeting are released on Wednesday.
* Investors withdrew $2.3 billion from gold exchange-traded
products in July as the dollar strengthened. ID:nL5N10O46Y
* An effort by U.S. businesses to whittle down a huge
inventory stockpile could weigh on production over the second
half of the year and undercut economic growth. ID:nL1N10S1D0
* Top gold producer Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO said that Jim
Gowans, a veteran miner and one of its co-presidents, was
retiring and that he would not be replaced, as the miner moves
to thin out its ranks and create a leaner operating structure. MARKET NEWS
* The dollar remained in favour against its peers, with
focus shifting back to potential rate hikes by the Federal
Reserve and away from the volatility caused last week by China's
shock yuan devaluation. USD/
* Asian shares firmed after a strong U.S. housing data
offset concerns from a weak U.S. manufacturing report.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0130 China House prices Jul
1230 U.S. Housing starts Jul
1230 U.S. Building permits Jul