SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) - Gold nursed losses on Friday after posting three days of declines and was heading for its first weekly drop in three as strength in the dollar and global equities curbed appetite for the safe-haven metal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had eased 0.1 percent to $1,225.70 an ounce by 0042 GMT, following a 1.3-percent drop in the previous session. For the week, it is down 1 percent after hitting a three-week high earlier.
* Stocks across the globe rose to their highest levels since late December on Thursday and the U.S. dollar gained for a third day running as investors embraced risk.
* Markets are awaiting Chinese GDP data due later on Friday and Sunday's meeting of top oil producers in Doha for near-term cues.
* Bullion-backed exchange-traded funds have seen outflows in recent days, weighing on gold prices.
* Assets in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to 806.82 tonnes on Thursday, the lowest in a month.
* Gold has steadied after its biggest quarterly rise in nearly 30 years in the three months to March, driven by a retreat in expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will push ahead with several rate hikes this year.
* Gold is sensitive to rising interest rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets, while boosting the dollar.
* Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart on Thursday made it clear he would not support a rate hike this month and set a high bar for supporting any move even at the Federal Reserve's June meeting. The Fed will raise interest rates twice this year, most likely in June, but the probability has faded on signs of a weak start to the year, inflation that is still tame and a brittle global backdrop, a Reuters poll showed. Deutsche Bank AG DBKGn.DE agreed to settle U.S. lawsuits accusing it of conspiring with other banks to manipulate gold and silver prices at investors' expense, court papers show. Among other precious metals, silver XAG= was on track to post a 5-percent weekly gain, its biggest jump in six weeks. It hit its highest since October earlier this week before giving back some gains.
* Platinum XPT= was headed for its third straight weekly gain, while palladium XPD= was poised for its best week in six with a 3.5-percent rise.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0200 China GDP Q1
0200 China Industrial output Mar
0200 China Retail sales Mar
0200 China Urban investment Mar
0900 Euro zone Eurostat trade Feb
1230 U.S. New York Fed manufacturing Apr
1315 U.S. Industrial output Mar
1400 U.S. Univ of Michigan sentiment index Apr
PRICES AT 0042 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1225.7
-1.31
-0.11 Spot silver
16.11 -0.038
-0.24 Spot platinum
982.65
-5.6
-0.57 Spot palladium
558
-3.75
-0.67 Comex gold
1227.6
1.1
0.09 Comex silver
16.14 -0.033
-0.2
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months