Gold steady as cloudy U.S. rate hike outlook drags on dollar

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Tuesday near two-week highs hit in the previous session, as the dollar hovered near multi-month lows on fading prospects for further U.S. rate hikes this year.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,234.48 per ounce at 0033 GMT, after hitting its highest since July 3 at $1,235.94 in the previous session. * U.S. gold futures for August delivery were mostly unchanged at $1,233.80 per ounce.

* SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.21 percent to 827.07 tonnes on Monday from 828.84 tonnes on Friday. [GOL/ETF]

* The U.S. dollar was near a 10-month low against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, pressured by uncertainty over the pace of the Federal Reserve's policy tightening. [USD/]

* Banks expect gold to match its 2016 average this year, but cut their silver price forecasts after the metal slid 9 percent in the second quarter. A poll conducted by Reuters this month returned an average silver price forecast of $17.32 an ounce for 2017, down from an average view of $17.98 in a similar poll conducted three months ago. [PREC/POLL]

* Palladium is expected to hit its highest annual average price on records going back three decades this year after tightness in the lending market pushed prices to 16-year highs last month. [PREC/POLL]

* South Korea on Monday proposed military talks with North Korea, the first formal overture to Pyongyang by the government of President Moon Jae-in, to discuss ways to avoid hostile acts near the heavily militarised border.

* The United States on Monday launched the first salvo in the renegotiation of the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), saying its top priority for the talks was shrinking the U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico.

* London's economy is wobbling from the early effects of Brexit judging from the capital's faltering housing market, fewer European Union citizens seeking work and weaker job creation, according to a report from the Centre for London think tank.

(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru)