SINGAPORE, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Gold clung to small overnight
gains on Tuesday but was within striking distance of a nearly
six-year low, pressured by a robust dollar and a looming U.S.
interest rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,064.66 an ounce
by 0036 GMT, after gaining 0.5 percent on Monday.
* But the metal wasn't far from $1,052.46, its lowest since
Feb. 2010 hit last week. Bullion also posted its biggest monthly
drop in 2-1/2 years in November with a 7-percent decline.
* Investors have been positioning for a U.S. rate hike,
expected this month at the Federal Reserve's Dec. 15-16 policy
meet, by selling non-interest-paying gold.
* The dollar, on the other hand, was on the cusp of reaching
its highest in nearly 13 years against a basket of currencies on
Tuesday, piling more pressure on greenback-denominated gold.
USD/
* A U.S. payrolls report on Friday will be closely watched
for clues about the strength of the economy and its impact on
the Fed's monetary policy. A strong number, after a surge in job
growth in October, could cement expectations that the U.S.
central bank will deliver its first hike in almost a decade.
* Hedge funds and money managers raised their net short
position in COMEX gold contracts to the biggest on record in the
week to Nov. 24, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data
showed on Monday.
* Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's top gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, are at their lowest since September 2008.
* In the physical markets, there were signs of strong demand
but not enough to provide a boost to gold prices.
* The U.S. Mint's sales of American Eagle coins surged in
November, with gold nearly tripling month-over-month and silver
already reaching a new annual record as bullion prices fell to
multi-year lows, data on Monday showed.
* U.S. jewellery imports jumped 85 percent for platinum in
the third quarter of 2015 and 12 percent for gold, ahead of the
holiday season, as prices for both precious metals fell for the
fifth straight quarter, Thomson Reuters GFMS calculations showed
on Monday.
* Elsewhere, gold ounces transferred between accounts held
by bullion clearers rose 2 percent in October from a month
earlier, the London Bullion Market Association said.
* India is set to discuss changes to a scheme to unlock the
country's massive stash of gold at a high-level meeting on
Tuesday, after a muted response to the programme in the first
month of its launch, according to banking sources.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0100 China NBS Non-mfg PMI Nov
0100 China NBS Manufacturing PMI Nov
0145 China Caixin Mfg PMI Final Nov
1445 U.S. Markit Mfg PMI Nov
1500 U.S. Construction spending Oct
1500 U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI Nov
1830 U.S. Total vehicle sales Nov
PRICES AT 0036 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1064.66 0.64 0.06
Spot silver 14.088 0.003 0.02
Spot platinum 834.9 3.82 0.46
Spot palladium 542.72 -2.04 -0.37
Comex gold 1064.7 -1.1 -0.1
Comex silver 14.04 -0.01 -0.07
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months