Gold prices inch up amid Brexit uncertainty, subdued dollar

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices edged up in early Asian trade on Tuesday after hitting a two-week high in the previous session, amid political uncertainty over Brexit and as the U.S. dollar remained subdued.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,258.12 an ounce at 0057 GMT. The metal touched its highest since June 26 at $1,265.87 on Monday.

* U.S. gold futures for August delivery were 0.1-percent lower at $1,258.70 an ounce.

* The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was steady at 94.028. It fell to its lowest since mid-June in the previous session. [USD/]

* Prime Minister Theresa May's foreign minister and Brexit negotiator quit on Monday in protest at her plans to keep close trade ties with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc, stirring rebellion in her party's ranks. [nL8N1U40XR]

* Britain's ramshackle exit from the EU could damage economic growth in the euro zone, European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny said. [nL8N1U53WJ]

* Germany and China signed a raft of commercial accords worth some 20 billion euros ($23.5 billion) on Monday, with their leaders reiterating commitments to a multilateral global trade order despite a looming trade war with the United States. [nL8N1U54DV]

* President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that China might be seeking to derail U.S. efforts aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, but said he was confident that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would uphold a pact the two agreed on last month. [nL1N1U50JG]

* The ECB will take a "wait and see" approach to any tightening of monetary policy after it keeps negative rates on hold through the summer of 2019, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said on Monday. [nZ8N1OC00X]

* The Bank of Japan maintained its upbeat economic assessment for all nine regions of the country but some areas saw companies fret about rising costs from labour shortages, a sign that a tightening job market could constrain business activity. [nL4N1U5287]

* Speculators raised their net long position in COMEX gold contracts in the week to July 3, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Monday. [CFTC/]

* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund fell 0.18 percent to 800.77 tonnes on Monday. [GOL/ETF]

* Canadian miner Barrick Gold Corp and China's Shandong Gold on Monday said they would deepen cooperation beyond their Argentinian joint venture, potentially working together on acquisitions. [nL4N1U52SY]

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0130 China Consumer prices June

0130 China Producer prices June

0645 France Industrial output May

0900 Germany ZEW economic sentiment July

1000 U.S. NFIB business optimism June

(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)