BENGALURU, July 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Wednesday held steady near a one-year low hit in the previous session, as the dollar firmed after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's U.S. economic outlook reinforced views the central bank is on track to steadily hike interest rates.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was largely unchanged at $1,227.16 an ounce at 0047 GMT. On Tuesday, it fell 1 percent and hit its lowest since last July at $1,225.58.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for August delivery were little changed at $1,227 an ounce.
* The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1 percent at 95.037. USD/
* The Fed's Powell said on Tuesday he sees the United States on course for years more of steady growth, but was challenged in a congressional hearing by senators worried the Trump administration's trade policies were already damaging businesses in their districts. With the U.S. economy firing on all cylinders, the Fed should ease away from monetary policy accommodation and move interest rates up far enough to prevent unwanted inflation but not so fast that a recession ensues, another U.S. central banker said Tuesday. U.S. industrial production increased in June, boosted by a sharp rebound in manufacturing and further gains in mining output, the latest sign of robust economic growth in the second quarter. U.S. President Trump tried on Tuesday to calm a storm over his failure to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, saying he misspoke in a joint news conference in Helsinki. Japan and the European Union signed a wide-ranging free trade deal on Tuesday that both sides hope will act as a counterweight to the protectionist forces unleashed by President Trump. British Prime Minister Theresa May narrowly avoided a defeat in parliament at the hands of pro-EU lawmakers from her own party on Tuesday, fending off a rebellion that had threatened to deepen a crisis over her Brexit strategy. Iran has filed a lawsuit against the United States alleging that Washington's decision in May to impose sanctions after pulling out of a nuclear deal violates a 1955 treaty between the two countries, the International Court of Justice said on Tuesday. Azerbaijan's top gold producer, Anglo Asian Mining AAZ.L , said on Tuesday it had increased its gold production by 43 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2018 to 33,255 ounces from 23,218 ounces in the same period last year. South Africa's Anglo American (LON:AAL) Platinum AMSJ.J has invested $100 million in two venture capital funds focused on increasing demand for platinum group metals, it said on Tuesday.