BENGALURU, May 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged up on
Tuesday, but the safe-haven metal's gains were limited by a
firmer dollar and as Asian shares recovered from two-month lows.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= rose 0.25 percent to $1,276.70 per ounce
at 0041 GMT.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.32 percent to $1,278.30.
* The dollar firmed on Tuesday as a recovery in crude prices
lifted equities and U.S. Treasury yields, and lessened demand
for the safe-haven yen. USD/
* Asian shares recovered from two-month lows on Tuesday
after a rebound in technology giant Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Corp and oil price
gains boosted Wall Street. MKTS/GLOB
* MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS ticked up 0.1 percent, extending the recovery
from its two month low set on Friday. Japan's Nikkei .N225
gained about 1.0 percent.
* Gold has rallied 20 percent this year on speculation that
the U.S. Federal Reserve has slowed its expected pace of rate
increases on concerns over the volatility in global markets.
* New York-based hedge fund Paulson & Co, led by John
Paulson, one of the world's most influential gold investors,
slashed his bets on bullion, while billionaire investor George
Soros and other big funds returned to the metal for the first
time in years, filings showed on Monday.
* The platinum market deficit is expected to rise to 861,000
ounces this year, Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) said on Monday, as demand from
autocatalyst manufacturers is boosted by the implementation of
new Euro 6 legislation.
* The palladium market may need up to three years to consume
its opaque above-ground stocks, according to Russia's Norilsk
Nickel GMKN.MM , the world's largest producer of the metal
chiefly used in emission-curbing autocatalysts.
* The Fed should consider raising rates at its June meeting,
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker told the Washington Post
in an interview published on Monday, saying inflation was moving
toward two percent and labor markets had tightened.
* China will push forward supply-side reform and increase
the number of middle-income earners, state television quoted
President Xi Jinping as saying on Monday, after economic data
for April fuelled doubts about the economy's health.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Oil prices hit six-month highs on Monday on worries about
global supply outages and as long-time bear Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS)
sounded more positive on the market, although a stockpile build
at the U.S. storage hub for crude futures limited gains. O/R