Gold near 1-week low on strong shares, stimulus uncertainty

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold fell to its weakest level in nearly a week on Thursday as strong shares boosted demand for riskier assets, while signs the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus programme could be easing towards an end dented bullion's safe-haven appeal.

FUNDAMENTALS

Gold had dropped $4.35 an ounce to $1,553.79 by 0037 GMT, after hitting its lowest since April 5 at $1,553.10. The metal declined more than 1 percent on Wednesday in its biggest one-day fall since February 20.

U.S. gold for June delivery was at $1,553.90 an ounce, down $4.90.

Fed officials appeared on course last month to end their extraordinary bond buying stimulus by year-end, suggesting a weak March jobs report may have taken them by surprise.

Cyprus has to sell excess gold reserves to raise around 400 million euros to help finance its part of its bailout, an assessment of Cypriot financing needs prepared by the European Commission showed.

South Korea said on Wednesday there was a "very high" probability that North Korea, after weeks of threats of war, would test-launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength.

MARKET NEWS

Wall Street's record closing overnight and growing optimism about the Chinese economy underpinned Asian shares on Thursday, while the Bank of Japan's bold monetary stimulus kept the yen near fresh lows against major currencies.

(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Joseph Radford)