SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Gold was trading near a three-month low on Wednesday, as strength in the dollar and outflows from bullion funds hurt the metal ahead of an anticipated U.S. rate hike.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,088.80 an ounce by 0032 GMT. It has fallen for nine out of ten sessions as of Tuesday.
* The metal had fallen to $1,084.90 on Friday, the lowest since Aug. 7, after a robust U.S. nonfarm payrolls report boosted bets the Federal Reserve would hike interest rates at its next meeting in December.
* Bullion as a non-interest-paying asset could take a hit to demand with higher rates.
* The dollar on Tuesday hit its highest in seven months against a basket of major currencies, in the rally following the jobs report. USD/
* A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
* A robust report on U.S. employment released last week has strengthened the conviction of economists who have been forecasting a December interest rate increase, according to a Reuters poll published on Tuesday.
* The survey of over 80 leading economists found a 70 percent median chance the U.S. central bank would raise its short-term lending rate at its final meeting of the year, next month. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1342K1
* Investors have been pulling out of gold. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, to 663.43 tonnes on Tuesday - the lowest since September 2008.
* The technical picture for gold is weak, and the next support is at the 5-1/2-year trough of $1,077 an ounce hit in July, analysts have said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1312D3
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL
MARKET NEWS
* The euro nursed broad losses early on Wednesday as political uncertainty in Portugal provided an excuse to sell in a market already bracing for further monetary policy easing from the European Central Bank.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0530 China Industrial output Oct
0530 China Retail sales Oct
0530 China Urban investment Oct
0700 Germany Wholesale price index Oct
PRICES AT 0032 GMT Metal
Last
Change Pct chg
Spot gold
1088.8
-0.71
-0.07 Spot silver
14.43
0.02
0.14 Spot platinum
899.74
1.24
0.14 Spot palladium
595
0.03
0.01 Comex gold
1088.3
-0.2
-0.02 Comex silver
14.39
0.034
0.24
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months