Gold prices steady after Hawkish Yellen comments

REUTERS - Gold prices were steady early Wednesday after falling over 1 percent in the previous session on hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,294.62 per ounce at 0108 GMT. Gold fell 1.3 percent in the previous session, its biggest loss in over two weeks.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.35 percent to $1,297.10 per ounce.

* The Fed needs to continue gradual rate hikes despite broad uncertainty about the path of inflation, Yellen said on Tuesday in remarks that acknowledged the central bank's struggles to forecast one of its key policy objectives.

* The dollar climbed to a one-month high and bond yields rose on Wednesday as risks grew for a U.S. interest rate hike in December, while Asian stocks hovered near multi-week lows as tensions in the Korean peninsula remain elevated.

* President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be "devastating" for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington's first option to deal with the country's ballistic and nuclear weapons program.

* U.S. consumer confidence fell in September and home sales dropped to an eight-month low in August due to the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, supporting the view that the storms would hurt economic growth in the third quarter.

* Sula Iron & Gold, a London-listed mining firm focused on Sierra Leone, said on Tuesday it had found gold of almost "bonanza grade" and its board would forgo their salaries while the company exploits the resource.

* China's net gold imports via its main conduit Hong Kong plunged 55 percent month-on-month in August to the lowest level since January as higher domestic prices dented demand.

* New York-based Paulson & Co, led by longtime gold bull John Paulson, called on Tuesday for the world's biggest investors in gold-mining stocks to form a coalition to tackle miners' "dreadful" performance.

(Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru)