MANILA, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold steadied near $1,280 an ounce on Thursday after rising the most since late April the session before, supported by a weaker dollar and equities.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was unchanged at $1,277.36 an ounce by 0041 GMT, after climbing off two-week lows overnight. Wednesday's nearly 1-percent gain was bullion's strongest since April 29.
* U.S. gold for June delivery GCcv1 rose 0.3 percent to $1,279.20 an ounce.
* Gold has risen more than 20 percent this year, benefiting from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates anytime soon.
* Thailand's only active gold mine has yet to receive a formal order from the ruling military government to shut down over claims it was responsible for contamination suffered by villagers and will continue to operate, the mine's Australian owner said. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, stood at 27.07 million ounces on Wednesday, the highest since December 2013. HLDSPDRGT=XAU
* India's gold imports could hit a record-high this year amid widespread smuggling to sidestep government levies on overseas shipments, said Australia and New Zealand Bank, Asia's biggest shipper of physical gold. For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar struggled to hold its own after its rebound from a near 1-1/2 year low against a basket of currencies run out of steam, with doubts over global growth prospects hobbling the U.S. currency. USD/
* Asian shares fell following a dismal day on Wall Street, while crude oil futures gave back some of their overnight gains after jumping on an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories. MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)
0600 Germany
Wholesale price index
Apr
0900 Euro zone
Industrial output
Mar
1100 Bank of England interest rate decision
1230 U.S.
Import prices
Apr
1230 U.S.
Export prices
Apr
1230 U.S.
Weekly jobless claims