Asia gold heads for 5th day of losses on euro zone worries

Spot gold inched down 0.2% to $1,759.19 an ounce by 0056 GMT

Gold nudged lower on Thursday, on course for its fifth straight day of losses as gloom over the euro zone's debt crisis supported the dollar, weighing on bullion.

Fundamentals

* Spot gold inched down 0.2 percent to $1,759.19 an ounce by 0056 GMT, extending losses to a fifth day.

* U.S. gold also edged down 0.2 percent to $1,761.20.

* Standard & Poor's on Wednesday cut Spain's sovereign credit rating to BBB-minus, just above junk territory, citing a deepening economic recession that is limiting the government's policy options to arrest the slide.

* The International Monetary Fund urged European policymakers to deepen the financial and fiscal ties within the euro area with some urgency to restore sagging confidence in the global financial system.

* Holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds rose to a record high of 75.03 million ounces by October9, despite the sluggish prices.

* Hong Kong's August gold shipments to China fell 29 percent from the previous month to 53.508 tonnes, the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department said.

* Gold analysts have turned increasingly bullish on the outlook for prices in the final quarter of 2012, unanimously expecting a record-high average, and further gains next year, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

* But analysts are less upbeat about platinum's prospects now than they were three months ago, as the threat to demand from a slowing global economy overshadows the lift from supply disruptions in top producer South Africa.

Market news

* The S&P 500 fell for a fourth day on Wednesday, weighed down by disappointing news from Chevron and Alcoa as earnings season got under way.

* The euro and the Australian dollar fell on Thursday as a drop in global shares dented investor risk appetite, with worries about global economic slowdown and uncertainty over Spain's bailout prospects continuing to haunt sentiment.