SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Tuesday after a four-day losing streak, but the metal wasn't too far from a 2-1/2-week low as it struggled to find direction amid uncertainty over a looming U.S interest rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= ticked up 0.1 percent to $1,120.61 an ounce by 0048 GMT. It slid to $1,116.20 on Monday, its lowest since Aug. 19.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 dipped 0.1 percent to $1,120.10.
* Investors had been awaiting Friday's U.S. jobs report to gauge the strength of the economic recovery and whether it would prompt the Federal Reserve to hike rates at its policy meet later this month. But the data failed to provide adequate clarity regarding a Fed move amid volatility in financial markets.
* Bullion traders have said gold will likely be under pressure until the Fed policy meet on Sept. 16-17 due to persistent uncertainty. Gold prices have been dented this year by expectations the Fed will hike rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
* Gold has failed to find a strong safe-haven bid despite the recent weakness in stocks due to worries over the Chinese economy. It has also failed to pick up cues from trading activity in the dollar, showing that gold is struggling to find direction outside of U.S. monetary policy.
* In other industry news, the value of China's gold reserves stood at $61.8 billion at the end of August, up from $59.24 billion at the end of July, the People's Bank of China said on its website. ID:nL4N11D1UM
* The economic crisis in Russia has persuaded a co-owner of Polyus Gold PGIL.L to consider a $5.4 billion buyout, which could end the top Russian gold producer's premium listing in London after just three years, say three sources close to the possible deal.
* The South African Reserve Bank said on Monday there were no talks among central bankers about upgrading platinum's status to a recognized reserve asset and past studies on the issue it had taken did not support the notion. ID:nL5N11D25E
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar edged up against the yen early on Tuesday, as the prior session's gains in European and Tokyo equities tempered demand for the safe-haven Japanese currency. USD/
* Asian shares edged higher and U.S. stock futures jumped following the lead of European stocks overnight, but investors were cautious ahead of China data which could give more clues on the health of the world's second-largest economy.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0200 China Trade data for August
0600 Germany Import/Exports for July
0900 Eurozone Revised Q2 GDP
PRICES AT 0048 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1120.61
1.51
0.13 Spot silver
14.51
-0.04
-0.27 Spot platinum
986.5
3
0.31 Spot palladium
580.65
5.4
0.94 Comex gold
1120.1
-1.3
-0.12 Comex silver
14.53 -0.019
-0.13 Euro
1.1167
DXY
96.15
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months