Gold near two-week low, firm dollar caps gains

By Clara Denina

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold steadied just above a near two-week low on Tuesday, after its steepest loss since March in the prior session, but a firm dollar curbed appetite for the precious metal.

Bullion has fallen in five out of the past six sessions, failing to fully benefit from data last week showing that the U.S. economy added the fewest jobs in seven months in April.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,264.53 an ounce by 1158 GMT, after hitting an early low of $1,259.51, its weakest since April 28. Bullion fell 1.9 percent on Monday, its sharpest single-day drop since March 23.

U.S. gold for June delivery was unchanged at $1,266.40 an ounce.

Spot prices are still up 19 percent this year as expectations for a near-term increase in U.S. interest rates ease. Higher rates would bolster the dollar, while lifting the opportunity cost of holding gold.

"The drivers that have lifted gold prices still remain largely intact, including the continuous wavering of the Fed in terms of the rate increases and the softening of the dollar, which introduced a layer of uncertainty in investors' mindsets that tends to support the precious metal," said Nitesh Shah, ETF Securities director of commodity research.

The dollar index was at 94.20, having hit its highest in nearly two weeks in the Asian trading session and extending its rise from a 15-month trough struck on May 3. The currency fell to an 18-month low versus the yen last week after the Bank of Japan stood pat on monetary policy.

"We remain longer term relatively positive but believe we are entering a corrective phase that may take prices closer to the $1,220 level near term," HSBC said in a note.

Physical demand for gold in China is uncertain and consumption in India is "sluggish at best", HSBC said on appetite in the top two bullion consumers.

Indians bought a third less gold than last year during the annual Hindu and Jain holy festival of Akshaya Tritiya on Monday, industry officials estimate, as droughts have hit the earnings of millions of farmers and the metal's price rallied.

Silver rose 0.2 percent to $17.04 an ounce, platinum was up 0.7 percent at $1,043.58 and palladium lost 0.2 percent to $584.70.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Susan Thomas)