Gold edges lower as investors await central bank decisions

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold extended losses on Monday from the previous session ahead of central bank meetings in the United States and Japan this week and amid strong appetite for riskier assets like equities.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold fell 0.4 percent at $1,317.40 an ounce at 0052 GMT. Bullion fell 0.7 percent on Friday, declining for a second successive week.

* U.S. gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,317.50 an ounce.

* Asian shares held near nine-month highs on Monday as worries over the impact of Britain's Brexit vote eased amid efforts to maintain growth, while the dollar was buoyed by a run of solid U.S. economic data.

* Japan's exports fell less than expected in June in a tentative sign that overseas demand could be recovering from persistent weakness that set in last year.

* Central banks from Washington to Tokyo take centre stage this week, although policymakers are likely to remain cautious as they wait for the dust to settle from Britain's shock vote to leave the EU.

* Hedge funds and money managers continued to pile on bullish silver bets in the week to July 19 as spot prices hovered near two-year highs and increased their copper net long to their highest since the end of March in the week to July 19, data showed on Friday.

* Gold demand in Asia continued to underwhelm, but a dip in global prices over the past couple of weeks raised expectations of buying in the coming days alongside keeping a lid on selling by consumers.

* Randgold Resources' Tongon mine in Ivory Coast will have a slightly lower gold output this year than previously expected mainly owing to an erratic power supply, Chief Executive Mark Bristow told reporters late on Saturday.

* Newcrest Mining Ltd on Monday said it had cut net debt by more than a quarter in the year to June, helped by strong cash generation as it just met its forecast for gold output for the year.

* Anglo American Plc's De Beers has put its Snap Lake diamond mine in Canada up for sale after suspending operations at the unprofitable mine last December, a spokesman said on Friday.

(Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)