Gold hovers near 7-week low ahead of Yellen's speech

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold steadied near its lowest level in seven weeks on Tuesday as investors looked to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's Senate testimony for signs of when the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,203.52 an ounce by 0041 GMT. The metal hit an intraday low of $1,191.01 on Monday, its weakest since Jan. 5.

* Expectations that the Fed will hike interest rates this year amid signals of a strengthening U.S. economy have curbed gold's safe-haven appeal.

* U.S. gold for April delivery was up 0.2 percent at $1,203.50 an ounce.

* Yellen will discuss the outlook for the U.S. economy and monetary policy in her semiannual testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

* Investors are keen to see if Yellen will echo the minutes of the Fed's January meeting, in which policymakers expressed the view that raising interest rates too soon may pour cold water on the U.S. economic recovery.

* U.S. home resales fell sharply to their lowest level in nine months in January amid a shortage of properties on the market, a setback that could temper expectations for an acceleration in housing activity this year.

* Greece will present its economic reform plans to the euro zone on Tuesday, missing a Monday deadline for the list which is a condition for extending the country's financial lifeline.

* The euro zone raised its gold holdings by 7.437 tonnes to 10,791.885 tonnes in January while Turkey slashed its bullion reserves, data from the International Monetary Fund showed.

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

MARKET NEWS

* Caution shrouded Asian markets on Tuesday as investors fretted over what Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen might say on the likely lift-off date for policy tightening later in the session. The dollar was steady against the yen. [MKTS/GLOB] [USD/]

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)