MANILA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Gold opened the trading week higher on Monday as Asian stocks tumbled to their lowest since 2011 on the heels of weak U.S. economic data that fuelled a sell-off on Wall Street.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was up 0.2 percent at $1,090.71 an ounce by 0036 GMT, after losing 1.4 percent last week.
* U.S. gold for February delivery GCcv1 was flat at $1,090.90 an ounce.
* U.S. retail sales fell in December along with industrial production, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the fourth quarter. After the disappointing data, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's closely-watched GDPNow forecast model showed the U.S. economy is on track to grow 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, slowing sharply from 2.0 percent in the third quarter. The renewed weakness in the world's top economy raises doubts about whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in March, boding well for non-interest bearing assets like gold.
* Hedge funds and money managers switched to their first bullish bet in COMEX gold in two months and lifted their bullish bet in silver in the week to Jan. 12, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* Asian shares slid to 2011 troughs following the weak U.S. economic data and falls in oil prices that showed no sign of abating, stoking further worries about a global economic downturn. MKTS/GLOB
* The safe-haven yen got off to a flying start while the Australian dollar, usually sold off in times of market stress, stayed under pressure. USD/
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0130 China
House prices
Dec