SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Gold struggled to recover
from losses on Monday due to strength in the dollar and as
investors took a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve
policy meeting later this week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,231.20 an ounce
by 0041 GMT, after dropping 1 percent on Friday.
* The U.S. dollar rose to its highest level against the yen
in three weeks on Friday after a report said the Bank of Japan
is considering expanding its negative rate policy to bank loans
and could cut rates further at its two-day policy review that
ends on Wednesday. USD/
* A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold more
expensive for holders of other currencies.
* Investors will also be closely monitoring the U.S. central
bank's two-day policy meeting that concludes on Thursday.
* The Fed, which lifted interest rates in December for the
first time in nearly a decade, is not expected to raise rates at
this week's meeting but markets will be looking for clues on
when the next week could be.
* A Reuters poll showed on Friday showed that economists
expect the Fed to deliver a rate hike in June, and follow up
with another by the end of this year. But interest rate futures
and bond market traders show less conviction on a series of
hikes this year, underscoring an ongoing wide gap between
markets and policymakers on the trajectory of rates.
* Spot silver XAG= firmed at $16.986 an ounce, after
jumping to its highest in 11 months last week.
* Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish
position in COMEX silver contracts to a record high in the week
to April 19 when prices surged to an 11-month peak, U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.
* They also increased their net long positions in gold
futures and options to the highest in 3-1/2 years.
* Gold demand in India improved last week as jewellery
retailers reopened stores after a strike, but the world's second
biggest bullion market remained at a discount to the global
benchmark as purchases across the region were curbed by higher
prices.
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TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0800 Germany Ifo business climate Apr
1400 U.S. New home sales Mar
1430 U.S. Dallas Fed manufacturing index Apr
PRICES AT 0041 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1231.2 -0.71 -0.06
Spot silver 16.986 0.043 0.25
Spot platinum 1002.61 -3.88 -0.39
Spot palladium 597.5 -3 -0.5
Comex gold 1233.1 3.1 0.25
Comex silver 17 0.1 0.59
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months