Gold below $1,300, strong U.S. data offsets Ukraine tensions

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold traded below $1,300 an ounce on Tuesday, holding on to most of its losses from the previous session as strong U.S. data offset safe-haven bids from escalating tensions between Russia and the West.

Investors are now eyeing this week's U.S. jobs report and a Federal Reserve policy meeting to further gauge the strength of the world's largest economy and the central bank's stance on tightening monetary policy.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was steady at $1,296.11 an ounce by 0020 GMT. Prices reached a 1-1/2 week high of $1,306.11 on Monday before ending down 0.6 percent on signs of a strengthening U.S. housing market.

Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rose in March for the first time in nine months, a sign the housing market could be stabilizing after suffering a setback from a rise in interest rates and a severe winter.

The United States imposed new sanctions on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, prompting Moscow to denounce "Cold War" tactics amid more violence in eastern Ukraine.

China's gold purchases via main conduit Hong Kong fell to a four-month low in March as a weaker yuan and domestic prices below the global benchmark kept banks from importing.

Failed merger talks between Barrick Gold Corp and Newmont Mining Corp descended into acrimony, with the two large gold miners publicly accusing each other of scuppering a deal favoured by many investors.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)