SINGAPORE, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Gold lost more ground on
Friday, falling for five out of six sessions as a rebound in oil
and equity markets reduced the precious metal's safe haven
appeal. Gold has dropped 2.5 percent this week, its biggest
weekly decline since early November.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= slid 0.1 percent to $1,076.88 an ounce by
0007 GMT while U.S. gold futures GCcv1 gained 0.3 percent to
$1,076.8.
* A bounce in global stock markets and oil prices added
pressure on precious metals.
* The metal hit two-month highs at $1,112 last week as
volatility in Chinese stocks battered appetite for risk, but
trading has since fallen as expectations of further U.S.
interest rate increases lowers demand for the
non-interest-paying asset.
* The Fed raised rates in December and attention has shifted
to how many hikes will follow in 2016.
* St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said a
continued decline in inflation expectations may change his
outlook for further Fed rate hikes, though so far he feels the
United States continues on a healthy track.
* Bullard's comments followed those by Chicago Fed President
Charles Evans on Wednesday, when he said he was nervous about
the potential effects of China's slowdown on the U.S. economy
and about the possibility that inflation expectations may be
slipping.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New
York-listed SPDR Gold Shares (N:GLD), reported a 2.4 tonne rise in its
holdings on Wednesday, bringing its total inflow for the year to
11.7 tonnes.
* Silver XAG= gave up 0.2 percent to $13.83 an ounce,
palladium XPD= fell 0.1 percent at $490.25 an ounce and
platinum XPT= added 0.1 percent to $835.18.
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TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The energy sector led the beaten-up U.S. stock market
higher on Thursday as oil prices rebounded from 12-year lows.
Major U.S. indexes climbed about 2 percent after dropping to
3-1/2 month lows on Wednesday. MKTS/GLOB
* The safe-haven yen nursed losses early on Friday, while
currencies such as the Australian dollar staged a modest rebound
thanks in part to a turnaround in risk sentiment that saw Wall
Street and oil prices bounce off lows. USD/
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
1000 Euro zone Eurostat trade Nov
1330 U.S. New York Fed manufacturing Jan
1330 U.S. Retail sales Dec
1415 U.S. Industrial output Dec
1455 U.S. Univ of Michigan sentiment index Jan
1500 U.S. Business inventories Nov