SINGAPORE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near its lowest
in over a week on Friday and was poised to snap a two-week
winning streak on a stronger dollar and a boost to expectations
for a U.S. rate rise this year.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,165.06 an ounce by 0029
GMT. It fell to $1,162.50 in the previous session, the lowest
level since Oct. 13.
* For the week, the metal is down about 1 percent, the
sharpest decline in six weeks and after posting two straight
weekly gains.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were down 1.5 percent for the
week, also the biggest loss since the week ended Sept. 11.
* Bullion, as a non-interest-paying asset, has been hurt by
uncertainty over the timing of the first U.S. rate hike in
nearly a decade.
* Rate rise expectations have largely been pushed out to
next year over concerns about the health of the global economy.
* An increase in December has not been completely ruled out
and those expectations were reinforced by upbeat U.S. housing
and labour market data on Thursday.
* U.S. home resales rebounded strongly in September and new
applications for unemployment benefits hovered around 42-year
lows last week, pointing at solid domestic fundamentals even as
the global economy falters. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12M15S
* The dollar was supported by the data and the euro skidded
after the European Central Bank opened the door to more stimulus
as early as December. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12M20T urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12M6IS
* A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of
other currencies.
* India's central bank said on Thursday it will allow
lenders to count short-term bullion deposits under the gold
monetisation scheme as part of their cash reserve ratio or
statutory liquidity ratios, increasing the appeal of the plan
for the sector. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12M4ZZ
* China Construction Bank 601939.SS will join the
twice-daily electronic auction process to set the benchmark
price of gold, its operator Intercontinental Exchange said in a
statement on Thursday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12M44H
* Festive demand for gold in India got off to a tepid start,
with local prices heavily discounted to the global benchmark, a
bearish sign at a time when buying is typically strong.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12M31R
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TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0130 China House prices Sep
0700 France Markit manufacturing flash PMI Oct
0730 Germany Markit manufacturing flash PMI Oct
0800 Euro zone Markit manufacturing flash PMI Oct
1345 U.S. Markit manufacturing flash PMI Oct
PRICES AT 0029 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg
Spot gold 1165.06 -0.59 -0.05
Spot silver 15.85 0.04 0.25
Spot platinum 1008.3 2.55 0.25
Spot palladium 683.38 0.38 0.06
Comex gold 1165.3 -0.8 -0.07
Comex silver 15.855 0.018 0.11
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the
most active months