Gold holds near two-week high, Fed in focus

BENGALURU(Reuters) - Gold held steady near a two-week high early on Wednesday, with the prospect of an early U.S. interest rate hike apparently dimming following dovish comments by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen earlier this week.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was nearly flat at $1,243.70 an ounce by 0100 GMT. It touched a two-week high of $1,248.40 on Monday.

* U.S. gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,246.40

* U.S. nonfarm productivity fell less sharply than initially thought in the first quarter and labour-related costs surged for a second straight quarter as companies hired more workers to raise output, suggesting profits could remain under pressure.

* The World Bank slashed its 2016 global growth forecast on Wednesday to 2.4 percent from the 2.9 percent estimated in January due to stubbornly low commodity prices, sluggish demand in advanced economies, weak trade and diminishing capital flows.

* The dollar was flat at 107.315 yen off the one-month low of 106.35 touched on Monday but still a long way away from the recent peak of 111.455 scaled at the end of May. [USD/N]

* Workers at Northam Platinum's South African mine said on Tuesday they would not return to work until management and police provided them with safety guarantees after a spate of murders, despite appeals from the company that it was safe.

* China's gold reserves were unchanged, at 58.14 million fine troy ounces at the end of May, from the end of April, the central bank said on Tuesday.

* Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd 1929.HK, China's largest jeweller by market value, reported a 46 percent fall in full-year profit, hurt by weak consumer sentiment and a fall in tourist arrivals.

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [GOL]

MARKET REPORT

* Asian shares held near six-week highs on Wednesday, on a brightening outlook in the energy sector and hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates in the coming months after a disappointingly weak U.S. jobs report. [MKTS/GLOB]

* Oil prices jumped more than 1 percent on Tuesday, hitting 2016 highs, with U.S. crude settling above $50 a barrel the first time in almost a year, on expectations of domestic stockpile draws and worries about global supply shortfalls from attacks on Nigeria's oil industry. [O/R]

(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)