BENGALURU, July 1 (Reuters) - Gold held on to its overnight gains in Asian trade on Friday and was headed for its fifth straight weekly gain, as a recovery in equity markets post the Brexit vote was offset by a weaker dollar.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was nearly flat at $1,321.56 an ounce by 0101 GMT. It rose 0.2 percent on Thursday, while registering its biggest monthly rise since February. The yellow metal rose over 7 percent during the April-June quarter.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 was up 0.3 percent at $1,324.40.
* Silver XAG= marked its highest since Sept. 2014 at $18.81 per ounce on Thursday, while registering its best quarter in nearly four years.
* Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the central bank would probably need to pump more stimulus into Britain's economy over the summer after the shock of last week's decision by voters to leave the European Union. Asian stocks rose on Friday as riskier assets continued to recover from the Brexit shock, while the pound came under renewed pressure after the Bank of England's governor hinted of an interest rate cut ahead. MKTS/GLOB USD/
* Britons' vote to leave the European Union has benefited gold as a haven from risk and could fuel longer-term gains if economic uncertainty sparks a broader shift in global monetary policy. Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) on Thursday raised its gold price forecasts on fears over the ongoing political, financial and economic fallout of Britain's vote last week to leave the European Union. Factory activity in the U.S. Midwest surged to its highest in almost 1-1/2 years in June amid strong gains in new orders and production, offering a ray of hope for the downtrodden manufacturing sector. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) has taken steps to help to preserve London's role as a major global gold trading centre by making its management more open and independent, documents seen by Reuters showed. CME on Thursday raised initial margins for trading COMEX 100 gold futures (GC) for speculators by 9.1 percent to $6,600 per contract from $6,050, while lowering margins for palladium futures NYMEX (PA) by by 16.7 percent to $3,850 per contract from $4,620.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0100 China
Official manufacturing PMI
Jun
0100 China
Official non-manufacturing PMI
Jun
0145 China
Caixin manufacturing PMI final
Jun
0750 France
Markit manufacturing PMI
Jun
0755 Germany Markit/BME manufacturing PMI
Jun
0800 Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI final
Jun
0900 Euro zone Unemployment rate
May
1400 U.S.
Construction spending
May
1400 U.S.
ISM manufacturing PMI
Jun