Gold edges lower on India demand concerns

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold held below $1,400 an ounce on Wednesday after falling in the previous session on fears of a slowdown in demand in the world's biggest bullion consumer, India, after the Reserve Bank of India imposed new rules to curb surging imports.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold edged down 0.06 percent to $1,398.14 an ounce by 0006 GMT, after falling nearly 1 percent on Tuesday.

* U.S. gold rose slightly to $1,398.5.

* India's central bank took tougher measures to curb gold imports on Tuesday after buying soared in May, extending a ban on deposit-based purchases to cover all imports apart from those used to make jewellery for export.

* The new rule could slash June imports, industry experts said, even as the government continued to weigh options in case the central bank's measure failed to stem the import flow.

* The move came after Monday's data showed gold imports in India, which is working hard to reduce its current account deficit, jumped to around 162 tonnes in May from 142.5 tonnes in April despite a rebound in prices.

* U.S. job growth probably picked up only slightly in May, according to a Reuters survey of economists, suggesting the economy is still in a rut and not ready for the Federal Reserve to dial back its monetary support.

* A decline in holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, resumed, falling 0.27 percent to 1010.45 tonnes on Tuesday. Holdings increased last Wednesday and had remained unchanged since.

* Physical gold buying among private investors slowed in May following weeks of strong bargain hunting, a survey by online precious metals market BullionVault showed on Tuesday.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin)