Gold steady as U.S. rate hike expectations cool

Gold was little changed early Tuesday, hovering near a three-week high hit on Friday as expectations of a near-term U.S. interest rate hike eased following disappointing U.S. growth figures.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was unchanged at $1,352.93 an ounce at 0103 GMT. Bullion ended up 0.2 percent at $1,352.85 on Monday. The yellow metal hit a high of $1,355.10 on Friday, its highest level since July 12.

* U.S. gold was flat at $1,359.8 an ounce.

* The Federal Reserve should be cautious on interest rate increases due to lingering risks to the U.S. economy, New York Fed President William Dudley said on Monday, appearing to signal the chance of a hike by the end of the year was fading.

* The Bank of England looks ready to cut interest rates for the first time since 2009 on Thursday, seeking to stop Britain's vote to leave the European Union from kicking the country into recession.

* U.S. manufacturing activity eased in July amid shrinking order backlogs and declining employment, while an unexpected drop in construction spending in June suggested second-quarter economic was probably even weaker than reported last week.

* British manufacturers slammed on the brakes last month after the Brexit vote and growth eased in the euro zone, surveys indicated, with factories in China, Japan and elsewhere in Asia offering only crumbs of comfort.

* India's gold imports fell for a sixth straight month in July as sluggish demand and record high discounts prompted banks and refineries to reduce overseas purchases of bullion, provisional data from consultancy GFMS showed on Monday.

* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.62 percent to 964.03 tonnes on Monday.

MARKET REPORT

* U.S. crude tumbled below $40 per barrel on Monday for the first time since April, as oil prices settled down nearly 4 percent on heightened worries of a crude glut despite peak summer fuel demand.

* Asian shares edged lower in early trading on Tuesday, taking their cues from a modestly lower day on Wall Street as U.S. crude oil prices slid.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0900 Euro zone Producer prices June 1230 U.S. Personal income June 1345 U.S. ISM-New York index July

(Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin)