BENGALURU, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched down early on Monday to drift away from a more than three-month high hit in the previous session, pressured as the dollar firmed and Asian stocks edged up after setbacks last week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was down 0.1 percent at $1,232.54 an ounce at 0055 GMT. On Friday, it touched its highest since July 17 at $1,243.32. It climbed 0.6 percent last week in its fourth straight weekly gain, its longest such streak since January.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were down 0.1 percent at $1,234.70 an ounce.
* Asian shares looked set for a modest bounce on Monday, though sentiment remains fragile as bears are on the ascendancy after steep declines across world financial markets last week. MKTS/GLOB
* The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.1 percent
* Profit growth at China's industrial firms slowed for the fifth consecutive month in September as sales of raw materials and manufactured goods further ebbed, pointing to cooling domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday that he had met Saudi Arabia's foreign minister and called for a transparent investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Britain's budget announcement on Monday and a "Super Thursday" at the Bank of England would normally be key moments for the world's fifth-biggest economy, but this time they are likely to be overshadowed by the drama of Brexit. British finance minister Philip Hammond warned rebels in his Conservative Party that he would have to quickly reverse plans to ease nearly a decade of austerity if London fails to get a Brexit deal. Chancellor Angela Merkel's junior coalition partners gave her conservatives until next year to deliver more policy results, threatening to end their alliance if there is no improvement after both parties suffered in a regional election on Sunday. Federal Reserve officials last week tried to ease concerns on Wall Street that bank reserves are growing scarce and that the Fed's key rate will edge up above a policy range, possibly forcing it to permanently hold more assets than planned. Standard & Poor's on Friday left Italy's sovereign debt rating unchanged but lowered its outlook to negative from stable, saying that the new government's policy plans were weighing on the country's growth and debt prospects. Gold demand in India last week was muted as a recent rally in domestic prices prompted buyers to postpone purchases despite the approaching festival and wedding season. Hedge funds and money managers cut their net short position in Comex gold by 10,473 contracts to 26,899 contracts, the smallest net short position since mid-July, in the week to Oct. 23, data showed.