MELBOURNE, March 24 (Reuters) - Spot gold steadied on
Thursday but was still facing its biggest weekly loss since
early November after slipping around 2 percent in the previous
session as hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials fed a
dollar recovery.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= edged up by 0.2 percent to $1,222.56 an
ounce by 2342 GMT. Gold on Wednesday fell as low as 1,215 an
ounce, its weakest since Feb. 26 and was on track for a 2.6
percent weekly loss ahead of the Easter holiday break which
starts on Friday.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 slipped 0.2 percent to $1,222.20.
* Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said the central
bank should consider another hike as early as next month if the
U.S. economy continues to improve, while Chicago Fed President
Charles Evans also said he expects two more rate increases this
year.
* New U.S. single-family home sales rebounded modestly in
February as a surge in the West offset sharp declines in other
regions, pointing to a gradually improving housing sector amid a
dearth of properties available on the market.
* Oil prices tumbled 4 percent on Wednesday, with U.S crude
settling below the key $40 per barrel mark after a sixth
straight week of record highs in stockpiles that traders warned
could cut short the market's two-month long rally. O/R
* Newcrest Mining NCM.AX said it has partially hedged
future gold production at its Telfer gold mine in Western
Australia and that it may hedge more in the future. NCM.AX
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Global equity markets fell and the dollar advanced on
Wednesday as hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials put
investors on guard for the possibility of more U.S. interest
rate hikes this year than currently anticipated. MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany GfK consumer sentiment Apr
0700 Germany Import prices Feb
0745 France Business climate Mar
1230 U.S. Durable goods orders Feb
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims