SINGAPORE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Gold ticked up on Thursday but stayed near its lowest level in two weeks after the Federal Reserve hinted at a possible U.S. rate hike in December, bolstering the dollar and reducing the appeal of non-interest-paying bullion.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= nudged up 0.3 percent to $1,158.66 an ounce by 0012 GMT, following a 1 percent slide in the previous session. The metal had fallen to $1,152, its lowest since Oct. 13 on Wednesday.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 slid 1.5 percent on Thursday.
* The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but in a direct reference to its next policy meeting put a December rate hike firmly in play.
* In recent weeks, investors had bet that the U.S. central bank would delay its first rate hike in nearly a decade to next year due to weakness in the global economy and its impact on the United States.
* The Fed on Wednesday said raising rates at its next meeting would depend on progress made on employment and inflation, but omitted any reference to global developments affecting U.S. economic activity.
* The surprise tone sent the dollar soaring against a basket of major currencies to its highest level in more than two months. USD/
* A stronger greenback makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, while higher rates also hurt the metal's appeal.
* Rate futures traders boosted bets that the Fed would raise rates at its next meeting on Dec 15-16. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12S274
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.17 percent to 694.34 tonnes on Wednesday. GOL/ETF
* Investors will now be closely monitoring U.S. data, including gross domestic product due later in the session, to gauge the strength of the economy and how it could affect the Fed's monetary policy.
* U.S. third-quarter economic growth could surprise on the upside after government data on Wednesday showed the goods trade deficit narrowed sharply to a seven-month low in September. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12S1CE
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. bond yields rose and stocks sold off after the Fed statement on Wednesday. MKTS/GLOB
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0855 Germany Unemployment rate Oct
1000 Euro zone Business climate Oct
1230 U.S. GDP Advance Q3
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1300 Germany Consumer prices Oct
1400 U.S. Pending homes sales Sep
PRICES AT 0012 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1158.66
2.96
0.26 Spot silver
15.9
-0.02
-0.13 Spot platinum
994.74
-3.26
-0.33 Spot palladium
674
-3.75
-0.55 Comex gold
1158.9
-17.2
-1.46 Comex silver
15.93 -0.363
-2.23
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months