Gold firm on fund inflows; China, Ukraine worries support

By A. Ananthalakshmi

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold was steady near $1,340 an ounce on Tuesday as fears of an economic slowdown in China and Ukraine's geopolitical crisis keep investors seeking safe-haven bullion.

In a sign of investor confidence in the precious metal amid global uncertainties, the world's biggest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund saw its largest inflow in a month on Monday.

Traders expect the metal to be well-supported between $1,330 and $1,350, with the next big movement expected from the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.

"Gold continues to be largely supported above $1,329, and while prices are unlikely to break above $1,361.60 in the absence of war, underlying support from the Ukrainian crisis ... is likely to keep prices elevated above $1,320 for an extended time," said Joyce Liu, an analyst at Phillip Futures.

Spot gold had inched up 0.3 percent to $1,341.96 an ounce by 0321 GMT. It ended flat on Monday after earlier dropping as much as 0.8 percent.

Gold traders are watching developments in the Ukraine crisis, over which the West and Russia are facing their worst stand off since the Cold War.

Weak Chinese exports data for February is also making investors opt for safe-haven gold rather than equities.

SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings rose 7.50 tonnes to 812.70 tonnes on Monday - the biggest inflow since February 13.

"We will be trading sideways for a while as Ukraine tensions remain high and these renewed China fears are making people nervous," said a Singapore-based trader.

"Markets are now looking at the Fed. It remains to be seen if the weather will have an impact on the Fed's stimulus outlook."

The Fed holds its next policy meeting on March 18-19 at which it is most likely to announce another $10 billion cut to its bond-buying stimulus.

Recent U.S. economic data has shown that growth has been hurt by severe cold weather.

In the physical market, Chinese prices continued to trade at a discount to spot prices due to weak demand. Prices in Shanghai were at a discount of $3 an ounce to London prices, compared with a premium of over $20 at the beginning of the year.

Among other precious metals, a public spat emerged on Monday between South Africa's labour mediator and the Chamber of Mines over the former's handling of talks to end an almost seven-week strike in the platinum sector, further dashing hopes of any breakthrough.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Ed Davies and Joseph Radford)