SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Gold held above a three-week low on Wednesday as the dollar nursed losses, but prices remained range-bound as traders waited for direction from the Federal Reserve on the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had edged up 0.2 percent to $1,123.11 an ounce by 0024 GMT, above a three-week low of $1,116.20 reached earlier in the week. The metal snapped a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, getting some reprieve from a softer dollar.
* Friday's U.S. payrolls data failed to provide clarity on the timing of the Fed's first interest rate rise in nearly a decade.
* Markets are now eyeing the Fed's next policy meeting on Sept. 16-17 for clues.
* The prospect of higher rates, which would lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar, has weighed on gold prices this year.
* The Fed should hold off on raising interest rates until the global economy is more stable, the World Bank's chief economist said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday. ID:nL1N11E207
* Gold has failed to attract strong investor interest as a safe haven despite the recent weakness in stocks due to worries over the Chinese economy, showing that the metal is struggling to find direction outside U.S. monetary policy, analysts say.
* South Africa's mining industry, unions and the government want to boost platinum's sagging fortunes by promoting it as a central bank reserve asset, but upgrading the metal to gold's coveted financial status will be an uphill struggle. ID;nL5N11D35P
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Asian markets caught a tailwind on Wednesday after upbeat German economic data powered gains in the U.S. and Europe, while the safe-haven yen slipped as investors' mood turned positive. MKTS/GLOB
* The dollar was mixed on Tuesday as rallying stock markets and positive German economic data gave global investors reasons to throttle down the risk aversion tactics that recently boosted the euro and yen. USD/
PRICES AT 0024 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1123.11
1.71
0.15 Spot silver
14.805 -0.005
-0.03 Spot platinum
1005.1
2.25
0.22 Spot palladium
591.72
7.57
1.3 Comex gold
1122.6
1.6
0.14 Comex silver
14.815
0.06
0.41 Euro
1.119
DXY
95.971
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months