Gold drops for sixth session in longest losing streak in four years

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold fell for a sixth session on Thursday in its longest losing streak since March 2009, after holdings in exchange-traded funds fell to their lowest in four years as rallying stock markets dulled bullion's safe-haven appeal.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold had dropped 0.3 percent to $1,388.15 an ounce by 0033 GMT after hitting its weakest since April 19 at 1,386.89 an ounce.

U.S. gold eased 0.64 percent to $1,387.30.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.43 percent to 1047.14 tonnes on Wednesday from 1051.65 tonnes on Tuesday, their lowest since March 2009.

Premiums for physical gold in India, the world's biggest gold buyer, have jumped sharply this week due to limited supply after the central bank restricted imports to rein in a record current account deficit.

The United States will rigorously enforce "without fear or fail" sanctions starting on July 1 that ban governments or private companies from selling gold to Iran, a top Treasury official said on Wednesday.

MARKET NEWS

Asian shares got off to a positive start on Thursday after data showed Japan's economy accelerated in the first three months of the year.

The euro declined to its lowest level against the dollar in six weeks on Wednesday.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Joseph Radford)