Asia gold headed for biggest weekly loss in two months

Gold was little changed on Friday, holding on to gains in the previous session when the dollar eased from a one-month high, but bullion was headed for its biggest weekly drop in two months.

Fundamentals

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,768.49 an ounce by 0015 GMT, on course for a 0.7-percent weekly loss, its sharpest one-week fall in two months.

* U.S. gold traded nearly flat at $1,770.40.

* The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits slid last week to the lowest level in more than four and a half years, according to government data that may provide a boost to President Barack Obama a month before voters go to the polls.

* The IMF on Thursday backed giving debt-burdened Greece and Spain more time to reduce their budget deficits, cautioning that cutting too far, too fast, would do more harm than good.

* Next year offers only a slight improvement for a global economy hit by recession in Europe and slowing or moribund growth in Asia and the United States, according to Reuters polls of hundreds economists worldwide.

* Holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds fell for the first time in two weeks on Thursday. Holdings edged down 44,965 ounces from a record high of 75.03 million ounces.

* The tension between Turkey and Syria helped support safe- haven sentiment.

* Spot silver edged up 0.2 percent to $34.06, but was headed for a 1.2-percent fall this week, its biggest weekly loss in three months.

Market news

* U.S. stocks ended flat on Thursday after gains brought by a sign of improvement in the labour market were erased in part by a drop in Apple shares after a legal setback in a court ruling.

* The dollar held steady on Friday, after coming off a one-month high in the previous session.