Gold firms after 3-day drop, U.S. Fed uncertainty persists

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Tuesday following three days of losses, but gains were limited on uncertainty over when the U.S. Federal Reserve would begin tapering its stimulus measures.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,327.46 an ounce by 0018 GMT, while silver gained nearly 1 percent.

* The Federal Reserve must for now continue to push hard against threats to the U.S. recovery, but should still be able to reduce its support for the economy later this year, New York Fed President William Dudley said on Monday.

* Just last week, the Fed surprised the markets by deciding not to reduce its asset purchases from the current $85-billion monthly pace. The markets had widely expected the bank to reduce the bond purchases by $10 billion from September.

* Goldcorp Inc is not ruling out new takeovers and might even take a look at big, capital-intensive gold-mining projects, Chief Executive Chuck Jeannes told Reuters on Monday, outlining a stance that puts the company at odds with many of its competitors.

* Gold importers in India are hoping their old stocks lying at airports would get customs clearance by Tuesday, following a meeting with government officials last week, before they ship more for exporters ahead of the peak Christmas season.

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.07 percent, or 0.6 tonnes, to 909.59 tonnes on Monday.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Ed Davies)