SINGAPORE, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Gold steadied near a
three-month high on Tuesday, as investors pushed back
expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike to next
year and on a weaker dollar.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,161.96 an ounce
by 0037 GMT, after a two-day rally. It hit a three-month high of
$1,169 in the previous session.
* The dollar languished around three-week lows against a
basket of currencies. USD/
* The Fed was expected to raise U.S. rates for the first
time in nearly a decade this year, but recent weak U.S. data,
concerns over Chinese growth and volatility in financial markets
have prompted markets to shift rate hike views to early 2016.
* The U.S. central bank refrained from hiking rates at its
last meeting in September. It holds two more policy meets in
2015: on Oct. 27-28, and then in December.
* Higher rates could dent demand for non-interest-paying
bullion, while boosting the dollar.
* The Fed should hold off on any rate hike until it is clear
that a global slowdown, trouble in China and other international
risks will not push the U.S. recovery off course, Fed Governor
Lael Brainard said on Monday in one of the strongest defenses
yet of a go-slow approach to rate policy. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12C0YA
* There could be sufficient economic data for the Fed to
consider a rate hike at their meeting later in October but there
will be a lot more data on hand in time for the December
meeting, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12C0L9
* In other industry news, Mitsui 8031.T will close its
precious metals businesses in London and New York at the end of
this year, two sources familiar with the situation said, due to
sliding commodity prices and more stringent regulation.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12C1AL
* Among other precious metals, silver XAG= dipped 0.2
percent to $15.79 an ounce, though it wasn't too far from a
3-1/2-month high of $16.10 hit last week.
* Platinum XPT= fell about 1 percent after hitting a
one-month high of $998.50 an ouncein the previous session.
Palladium XPD= also eased.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Crude oil futures tumbled on Monday on profit-taking and a
report of higher OPEC production, while pressure lingered on the
U.S. dollar as markets priced the possibility that the Fed would
not begin a tightening cycle this year. MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
China Trade data Sep
0600 Germany Wholesale price index Sep
0900 Germany ZEW economic sentiment Oct
1000 U.S. NFIB business optimism Sep
PRICES AT 0037 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1161.96 -1.64 -0.14
Spot silver 15.79 -0.03 -0.19
Spot platinum 985.2 -7.8 -0.79
Spot palladium 687.75 -2.25 -0.33
Comex gold 1161.9 -2.6 -0.22
Comex silver 15.805 -0.059 -0.37
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months