SINGAPORE, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Gold rose only slightly on Thursday, after two days of losses, as the metal struggled to find direction in thin pre-holiday trade amid conflicting cues from the currency, equities and energy markets.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= rose 0.2 percent to $1,072.10 an ounce by 0037 GMT, after losing 0.7 percent in the last two sessions.
* Many financial centres around the world will shut early on Thursday and stay closed on Friday for the Christmas holidays. Some will remain shut on Monday.
* On Wednesday, Wall Street rallied, U.S. Treasury yields rose and the dollar edged up after a three-day losing streak.
* Strong equities and dollar typically suppress demand for safe-haven gold.
* But the metal found some support in the energy markets, as oil rose more than 3 percent on Wednesday following a drop to multi-year lows earlier in the week. O/R
* Gold is positively correlated to oil as the metal is seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation.
* Mixed U.S. economic data also did not help gold find direction.
* New orders for U.S. manufactured capital goods fell in November and the prior month's increase was revised sharply lower. But other data on Wednesday showed consumer sentiment at a five-month high in December and personal income rising for an eighth straight month in November. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N14C0P5
* Gold prices have shed 9 percent so far this year, a third year of losses, mostly due to expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates, which it did this month.
* With the first U.S. rate increase in nearly a decade out of the way, the focus is now on the pace of future hikes.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar, euro and yen got off to a subdued start on Thursday in what is likely to be a languid session with much of the Western world already shuttered for the Christmas and year-end holidays.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
1330 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
PRICES AT 0037 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1072.1
2
0.19 Spot silver
14.33
0.035
0.24 Spot platinum
870.62
3.25
0.37 Spot palladium
551.47
-0.43
-0.08 Comex gold
1071.4
3.1
0.29 Comex silver
14.325
0.038
0.27
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months