Gold edges up despite firm dollar

REUTERS - Gold began the new year quietly, edging up slightly on Tuesday, despite pressure from a strong dollar.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,154.26 per ounce at 0109 GMT.

* Bullion gained more than 8 percent in 2016, snapping three years of declines.

* U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 percent at $1,155.4

* The most active COMEX gold futures contract finished 2016 up 7.1 percent as compared to the end of 2015 after strong gains on economic uncertainty earlier in the year were pared by heavy selling as the U.S. dollar rallied following the U.S. presidential election.

* The dollar index - which measures the greenback against six major rivals - climbed over half a percent.

* The U.S. dollar held on to broad gains on Tuesday, resuming its ascent after last week's brief wobble as the prospect of rising U.S. interest rates this year kept sentiment bullish on the long-run.

* Asian stocks began 2017 on a flat note on Tuesday, uninspired by a surge in European markets to their highest in more than a year, while the dollar resumed its climb after last week's stumble.

* Starting in July 2017, banks and other financial institutions in China will have to report all domestic and overseas cash transactions of more than 50,000 yuan ($7,201), compared with 200,000 yuan previously, the central bank said on Friday.

* China's new rules on overseas currency transfers are not capital controls, the official Xinhua news agency reported, even as some banks told customers that purchases of foreign currency for property, securities and life insurance were not allowed.

* After a late-year rally fuelled by the U.S. election pushed stocks to surprising new peaks, investors are wary that the market could be primed for a spill to start 2017.

* Hedge funds and money managers slashed their net long positions in COMEX gold to a near 11-month low and trimmed bullish bets in silver contracts in the week to Dec. 27, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.14 percent to 822.17 tonnes on Friday from 823.36 tonnes on Thursday.

(Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin)