MELBOURNE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Spot gold neared its highest
level in more than a month on Friday as bets climbed that the
United States would delay an expected hike in interest rates to
later than September.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= rose 0.7 percent to $1,153.50 an ounce by
0035 GMT, having struck the highest since July 15 at $1,155.46.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 was bid up 0.1 percent at $1,153.45,
having also hit its loftiest since mid July.
* U.S. Federal Reserve officials widely agreed last month
the economy was nearing the point where interest rates should
move higher, but worried lagging inflation and a weak global
economy posed too big a risk to commit to "lift off."
ID:nL1N10U1HJ
* U.S. home resales rose to a near 8-1/2-year high in July
and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region picked up this
month, fresh signs of steady economic growth that likely keeps
the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates this year.
ID:nL1N10V0OO
* Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned on Thursday, hoping
to strengthen his hold on power in snap elections after seven
months in office in which he fought Greece's creditors for a
better bailout deal but had to cave in. ID:nL5N10V2L5
* A mini debt crisis in northern China is exposing cracks in
a financial pillar of the country's economic revival plan: the
$430 billion loan-guarantee industry. ID:nL3N10T4CS
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Asian stocks fell early on Friday, following Wall Street,
as fears took hold of a China-led deceleration in global growth.
MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0145 China Caixin manufacturing PMI flash Aug
0600 Germany GfK consumer sentiment Sep
0700 France Markit manufacturing PMI flash Aug
0730 Germany Markit manufacturing PMI flash Aug
0800 Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI flash Aug
1345 U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI flash Aug
1400 Euro zone Consumer confidence Aug
PRICES AT 0035 GMT
Metal Last PrevClose Change Pct chg
Spot Gold 1153.50 1152.76 0.74 0.06
Spot Silver 15.51 15.55 -0.04 -0.26
Spot Platinum 1026.60 1029.00 -2.40 -0.23
Spot Palladium 619.02 618.00 1.02 0.17
100 OZ GOLD DEC5 1153 1153 0.10 0.01
SILVER 5000 SEP5 15.5 15.517 -0.02 -0.11