Aug 9 (Reuters) - Gold held steady early on Tuesday after recovering from one-week lows hit the day before, with the dollar edging down and investors using the correction in prices to hunt for bargains.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was mostly unchanged at $1,335.82 an ounce by 0104 GMT. Bullion touched its lowest since July 29 at $1,329.55 on Monday.
* U.S. gold GCcv1 was nearly flat at $1,341.40 an ounce.
* The dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped as much as 0.1 percent to 96.344 .DXY .
* The U.S. economy is at increasing risk of becoming trapped in a prolonged phase of slow growth that points to the need for lower interest rates than previously expected, Federal Reserve policymaker Jerome Powell was quoted as saying. British retail spending bounced back in July as sales promotions and good weather outweighed any immediate concern about the consequences of Britain's decision to leave the European Union, a survey showed. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.67 percent to 973.81 tonnes on Monday. GOL/ETF
* The Perth Mint's sales of gold and silver products fell in July as slower summer sales in North America kept distributors well stocked, and demand out of continental Europe remained subdued. The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Tuesday it is planning to launch spot and futures contracts for gold and silver in the first half of 2017, adding to its list of products which includes copper and aluminium. For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET REPORT
* Asian shares stood atop one-year peaks on Tuesday as a desperate search for yield drove a record inflow into emerging market funds, while oil prices tried to sustain their latest bounce. MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0130 China Consumer prices July
0130 China Producer prices July
0600 Germany Trade balance June
0830 Britain Industrial output June
1000 U.S. NFIB business optimism July
1230 U.S. Labor costs Q2
1400 U.S. Wholesale sales June