Gold prices dip as dollar regains footing

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices slipped in early trade on Wednesday, as the dollar regained ground after briefly dipping earlier following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

FUNDAMENTALS

** Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,311.81 per ounce at 0111 GMT.

** U.S. gold futures for June delivery slipped 0.1 percent to $1,312.40 per ounce.

** The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1 percent at 93.199.

** Trump on Tuesday pulled the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upsetting European allies and casting uncertainty over global oil supplies.

** Oil prices pushed higher in early trading on Wednesday after the Iran announcement, a move that may curb the OPEC-member's crude exports in an already tight market. [O/R]

** Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed ongoing trade issues on Tuesday, as both sides continue to position themselves amid a heated feud over tariffs between the world's two largest economies.

** The U.S. Federal Reserve is entering new terrain in its post-crisis planning: how to describe the conditions under which it would try to slow the economy and to do so without alarming financial markets.

** A stronger-than-expected rebound in German industrial output in March and an increase in exports in the same month helped to ease concern on Tuesday that growth in Europe's biggest economy had come to a standstill at the start of the year.

** The slowdown in euro zone growth is not dramatic and the European Central Bank can still end its bond purchase scheme this year, ECB policymaker Vitas Vasiliauskas told German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung on Tuesday.

** Many Bank of Japan policymakers have set their sights on exiting from ultra-easy monetary policy and will favour raising interest rates if the economy continues to recover, former central bank board member Takahide Kiuchi told Reuters on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)