Gold holds near three-week high, set for weekly rise

(Reuters) - Gold inched up early Friday, holding near a three-week high amid uncertainty over U.S. tax reforms, and was on track for its first weekly rise in a month.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,286.30 per ounce at 0101 GMT. On Thursday, it touched its highest since Oct. 20 at $1,288.34 an ounce. The safe haven asset was up about 1.3 percent for the week so far.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery were flat at $1,287.20.

* Palladium gained 0.2 percent to $1,011.97 an ounce. It touched its highest since 2001 at $1,026.10 on Thursday.

* The dollar was on track for weekly losses after dropping on disappointment with a tax bill put forth by U.S. Senate Republicans that would delay expected corporate tax cuts. [USD/]

* U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a tax plan on Thursday that differed from the House of Representatives' version on several key fronts, including how they treat the corporate tax rate, the tax deduction for state and local taxes, and the estate tax.

* Asian shares slipped on Friday with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan falling 0.1 percent. [MKTS/GLOB]

* The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, suggesting that claims processing disrupted by recent hurricanes has begun to improve.

* Gold demand slid to its lowest in eight years in the last quarter as jewellery buying fell and inflows into bullion-backed exchange traded funds dried up, data from the World Gold Council showed on Thursday.

* India's gold consumption is likely to drop to its lowest in eight years in 2017, hit by government moves to make bullion trading more transparent and by faltering demand from some rural areas, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

* Russia's largest gold producer Polyus said on Thursday its third-quarter net profit decreased 5 percent year-on-year to $371 million due to a gain on derivatives and investments in the prior period, as well as finance costs.

* Workers employed by Lonmin's community shareholder Bapo Ba Mogale are protesting that they have not been fully paid, causing minor disruption at two of the platinum miner's shafts, the South African-focused firm said on Thursday.

DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)

0745 France Industrial output Sep

0930 Britain Industrial output Sep

1500 U.S. Univ of Michigan sentiment index Nov

(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in BengaluruEditing by Richard Pullin)