Dec 23 (Reuters) - Gold held little changed early on Friday and was on track for a seventh straight weekly decline amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will opt for more interest rate hikes in 2017.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,128.76 an ounce by 0038 GMT. Bullion closed down 0.2 percent on Thursday. The yellow metal was on track to end the week down nearly 0.5 percent.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were little changed at $1,130 per ounce.
* New orders for U.S.-made capital goods rose more than expected in November. Other data on Thursday showed that third-quarter U.S. economic growth beat expectations. But the number of Americans applying for unemployment aid hit a six-month high last week and U.S. consumer spending increased modestly in November. More consistent evidence of U.S. economic strength could prompt the Fed to tighten credit again sooner than later. Higher rates discourage buying of non-interest-paying bullion, which is priced in dollars.
* Global investors' equity holdings rose to six-month highs in December on bets that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's promised fiscal splurge would spur higher growth and inflation, a Reuters monthly poll showed on Thursday. China's leadership is signalling growth will slow slightly in 2017, policy advisers say, as it struggles to strike a balance between supporting the economy with loose credit conditions and preventing a destabilising build-up in debt. Japan's cabinet approved on Thursday a record $830 billion spending budget for fiscal 2017 that counts on low interest rates and a weak yen to limit borrowing, underscoring the challenge Tokyo faces in curbing the industrial world's heaviest debt burden. Russia and Kazakhstan raised their gold reserves in November, data from the International Monetary Fund showed on Thursday. For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0700 Germany
GfK consumer sentiment
Jan
0745 France
GDP final
Q3
0745 France
Consumer spending
Nov
0930 Britain
GDP
Q3
1500 U.S.
New home sales
Nov