Gold extends losses on robust U.S. data, higher shares

By A. Ananthalakshmi

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold dipped for a second straight session on Wednesday, as global equities and the dollar rose following strong U.S. manufacturing data that rekindled speculation of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year.

Other safe-haven assets also fell, with the Japanese yen nursing broad losses, having suffered a big reversal overnight as traders in London and New York took a brighter view on the global economy. [USD/]

Spot gold slipped 0.4 percent to $1,226.56 an ounce by 0247 GMT, after dropping 0.5 percent in the previous session.

"The selling (in gold) will likely continue going into Wednesday's session, especially if we see another round of strong buying set in over global equity markets," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.

"All this goes to show us that gold still remains very much in the orbit of U.S. equities and we suspect that this will remain the case for some time to come," he said.

The U.S. S&P 500 Index jumped to an eight-week high on Tuesday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped to their highest since early January on Wednesday.

Shares got a boost after data showed U.S. manufacturing appeared to stabilize in February, with production accelerating and new orders holding steady at higher levels.

The economic outlook was further bolstered by another report on construction spending that scaled a more than eight-year high in January.

The U.S. dollar rebounded against the yen and hit one-month highs against the euro on Tuesday, making commodities priced in the greenback expensive for holders of other currencies.

Investors will be watching more U.S. data to gauge the impact on stocks and the Fed's monetary policy, with the most important one being U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday.

So far this year, gold has gained 16 percent as turmoil in equity markets and concerns over the global economy triggered speculation that the Fed will not raise U.S. interest rates any further this year. The U.S. central bank hiked rates for the first time in nearly a decade in December.

For now, gold is also drawing support from flows into bullion-backed exchange traded funds (ETF). Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's top gold ETF, rose 1.15 percent to 786.20 tonnes on Tuesday, the highest since September 2014.

In physical markets, India's gold imports in January surged 62 percent compared with the same period last year, news agency NewsRise Financial reported on Tuesday, citing a government official.

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