Sept 26 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Monday as the dollar fell against the yen, with markets shifting their focus towards U.S. politics ahead of a presidential debate.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had edged up 0.1 percent to $1,338.82 an ounce by 0052 GMT.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 gained 0.1 percent to $1,343.10 an ounce.
* The U.S. presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton will take place at 0100 GMT on Tuesday, with investors looking for indications of who could win the race to lead the world's biggest economy.
* The dollar was down 0.3 percent at 100.75 yen JPY= .
* Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren said on Friday that he believed interest rates should be raised gradually now and warned that a fall in the unemployment rate below its sustainable level could derail economic recovery in the United States. The split at the Federal Reserve over when to next raise interest rates appears to hinge largely on disagreements over the labour market outlook, comments from policymakers on Friday suggest. Appetite is low for a big European Central Bank policy shift so any change is likely to be just an adjustment of the current asset buying scheme and not a big overhaul, conversations with six sources on or close to the Governing Council indicate. Hedge funds and money managers cut their net long position in COMEX gold for the second straight week in the week to Sept. 20, ahead of the U.S. Fed policy meeting, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed. Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.03 percent to 951.22 tonnes on Friday. GOL/ETF
* Asian physical gold demand remained subdued last week ahead of a national holiday in China and amid what is considered an inauspicious period before the festival season begins in October in India. GOL/AS
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MARKET REPORT
* Asian shares began the week under a cloud on Monday after losses on Wall Street, as investors' attention turned from central banks to the first U.S. presidential debate. MKTS/GLOB
* Crude prices rebounded on Monday after Algeria's energy minister said the day before that all options were possible for an oil output cut or freeze at this week's informal meeting of OPEC producers. O/R