BENGALURU, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged down on Wednesday as the dollar touched multi-month highs on robust U.S. economic data and on concerns over an escalation in the U.S.-Sino trade war.
However, the metal remained on track to end a streak of monthly losses that lasted for six months, the longest such run since a period that finished in early 1997.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was down 0.2 percent at $1,220.59 an ounce at 0108 GMT, having touched its lowest since Oct. 18 at $1,219.37 in the previous session.
* Gold has risen about 2.4 percent so far in October, its biggest monthly rise since January.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.3 percent to $1,222.20 an ounce.
* The dollar marked a 16-month peak against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday. USD/
* U.S. consumer confidence rose to an 18-year high in October, driven largely by a robust labour market, bolstering expectations that strong economic growth would continue through early 2019. Asian stocks pulled away from 20-month lows to eke out small gains on Wednesday thanks to a rebound on Wall Street, though investors remained cautious after a torrid October month that saw trillions of dollars wiped out of global equity markets. MKTS/GLOB
* U.S. President Donald Trump said he thinks there will be "a great deal" with China on trade, but warned that he has billions of dollars worth of new tariffs ready to go if a deal isn't possible. With congressional elections a week away, Trump on Tuesday said he would seek to scrap the right of citizenship for U.S.-born children of non-citizens and illegal immigrants as he tries again to dramatically reshape immigration policies. The euro zone economy grew less than expected in the third quarter as the public mood turned darker, with signs of distress in Italy highlighting concerns that the bloc's third-ranked state is becoming one of its weakest links. A no-deal Brexit would be likely to tip Britain into a recession as long as the downturn that followed the global financial crisis, and investors should no longer ignore this danger, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday. The price of gold is expected to rise to $1,532 an ounce by October next year, delegates to the London Bullion Market Association's annual gathering predicted on Tuesday. Randgold Resources Ltd RRS.L said on Tuesday its Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex in Mali had stepped up production, with increased grades expected in the third and fourth quarter of the year. AHEAD (GMT)
0100 China Official manufacturing PMI
Oct
0100 China Official services PMI
Oct
1000 Euro zone Consumer prices
Oct
1000 Euro zone Unemployment rate
Sep
1215 U.S. ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) national employment
Oct
1230 U.S. Employment costs
Q3
1345 U.S. Chicago PMI
Oct