Gold retreats from 7-week top as dollar gains

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Tuesday below a seven-week high reached the session before as the dollar regained momentum, although uncertainty about the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike kept bullion above $1,200 an ounce.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was flat at $1,213.40 an ounce, after hitting a session high of $1,224.10 on Monday, its loftiest since Feb. 17.

* U.S. gold for June delivery slipped 0.4 percent to $1,213.80 an ounce.

* Friday's disappointing U.S. non-farm payrolls data fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve could delay an anticipated rate increase this year, boosting gold's safe-haven appeal. U.S. jobs posted the slowest growth in more than a year in March.

* New York Fed President William Dudley said the timing of the U.S. rate hike, which would be the first in nearly a decade, is unclear and for now policymakers must watch that the U.S. economy's surprising recent weakness does not signal a more substantial slowdown.

* Growth in U.S. services sector slowed in March to its lowest level in three months but the index of new export orders rose to the highest level in more than two years.

* SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings dropped to 735.45 tonnes on Monday from 737.24 tonnes on Thursday. [GOL/ETF]

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [GOL/]

MARKET NEWS

* The dollar firmed in Asia, having recovered almost all of its payroll-inspired losses as the euro came under renewed pressure. Asian stocks tracked Wall Street higher. [USD/] [MKTS/GLOB]

* U.S. crude futures dipped after rallying in the previous session and as Goldman Sachs said it saw little upside for its $40 a barrel forecast over the next three months.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0755 Germany Markit services PMI Mar

0800 Euro zone Markit services PMI Mar

0830 Euro zone Sentix index Apr

0900 Euro zone Producer prices Feb

1900 U.S. Consumer credit Feb

Precious metals prices 0026 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg

Spot Gold 1213.40 -0.90 -0.07 2.52

Spot Silver 16.90 -0.07 -0.41 7.92

Spot Platinum 1170.30 -3.70 -0.32 -2.47

Spot Palladium 764.22 -3.28 -0.43 -3.59

COMEX GOLD JUN5 1213.80 -4.80 -0.39 2.51

COMEX SILVER MAY5 16.93 -0.18 -1.08 8.50

Euro/Dollar 1.0937

Dollar/Yen 119.45

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Michael Perry)