Gold inches down as dollar stays firm near 3-1/2-month peak

BENGALURU(Reuters) - Gold prices inched lower early on Tuesday, hovering close to a nearly six-week low touched in the previous session, as the U.S. dollar held firm near a 3-1/2-month high.

FUNDAMENTALS

** Spot gold XAU= fell 0.1 percent to $1,314.00 per ounce at 0106 GMT. Prices slipped to $1,310.11 on Monday, their lowest since March 21.

** U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for June delivery eased 0.3 percent to $1,315.10 per ounce.

** The dollar index .DXY was little changed at 91.832. The greenback touched 91.986 on Friday, its highest since since Jan. 11.[USD/]

** Most markets in Asia are closed for a Labour Day holiday.

** Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to convene on Tuesday and Wednesday for a regular policy meeting. The central bank is widely expected to stand pat on policy and investors will be watching for hints of a rate hike in June.

** U.S. consumer prices accelerated in the year to March, with a measure of underlying inflation surging to near the Fed’s 2 percent target as weak readings from last year dropped out of the calculation.

* President Donald Trump has postponed a decision on imposing steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada, the European Union and Mexico until June 1, and has reached an agreement in principle with Argentina, Australia and Brazil, a source familiar with the decision said on Monday.

** South Korean trust in North Korea has surged since last week’s feel-good summit at which their leaders declared an end to hostilities and to work towards denuclearisation of the peninsula.

** Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle gold coins dropped to their weakest April since 2007, while silver coin purchases for the month rose 10 percent higher than last year, U.S. government data showed on Monday.

** India raised gold holdings by 2.2 tonnes to 560.3 tonnes in 2018 March -IMF Data