Int'l gold ekes out gains before US, euro zone data

Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,611.96 an ounce by 0031 GMT

Gold inched up on Tuesday, after dropping in the previous session, as investors waited to see if data from Europe and the United States would indicate further weakness in the global economy and prompt central banks to take stimulus measures.

Fundamentals

* Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,611.96 an ounce by 0031 GMT, after losing 0.6 percent in the previous session.

* U.S. gold futures contract for December delivery gained 0.1 percent to $1,614.70.

* After last week's bleak China trade data and Monday's report showing a slowdown in Japan's economy, investors are now eyeing the euro zone's second quarter gross domestic product, which is expected to contract, and July U.S. retail sales and consumer prices due later in the day for trading cues.

* Europe's crisis continues to brew. Greece's economy shrank 6.2 percent on an annual basis in the second quarter, a slump that is expected to persist as the government scrambles to nail down billions in additional cuts to keep international bailout funds flowing.

* Italy's public debt hit an all-time high in June of almost 2 trillion euros and the annual budget deficit was also bigger than a year before, due largely to Italy's share of bailouts for other euro zone states, the central bank said on Monday.

* Short-term Spanish government bond yields rose on Monday as investors reassessed the likelihood that the ECB would resume its bond-buying programme, taking the view that it may be too soon to expect intervention.

* Nine people including two policemen have been killed in clashes between labour unions at a South African mine operated by world no. 3 platinum producer Lonmin , by far the deadliest spate of violence in a turf war rocking the sector.

* Despite the violent incident, spot platinum dropped to a more than one-week low of $1,377.49 an ounce in the previous session, before recovering to $1,384.76.

Market news

* U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Monday as fatigue set in after a six-day rally and disappointing Japanese growth data provided a fresh reminder of the headwinds facing the global economy.

* The euro held onto most of its gains in early Asian trade on Tuesday, having been swept higher by a wave of short covering overnight in a move exaggerated by thin market conditions.