Gold steady near lowest in a week on firm dollar

By Mariana Ionova

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold steadied near its lowest in more than a week on Thursday, pressured by a firmer dollar and uncertainty over the timing of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate increase.

Spot gold was broadly steady at $1,167.15 an ounce by 1026 GMT, failing to recover losses from the previous session. The metal slipped to $1,163.50 a day earlier, its lowest level since Oct. 13, before regaining some ground to close down 0.8 percent.

Prices on Thursday were pressured further by a stronger dollar, which weighs on gold by making the metal more expensive for holders of other currencies.

"The overall sentiment towards the dollar is improving somewhat," said Georgette Boele, FX and commodity strategist at ABN AMRO.

The market was also subdued ahead of U.S. existing house sale data, which could provide clues about the strength of the economy and the timing of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike.

Gold was pressured to 5-1/2 year lows earlier this year by expectations that the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates this year, potentially lifting the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

But market expectations for tightening of U.S. monetary policy have shifted to next year in recent weeks on concerns about the global economy.

"The market is not really expecting a hike anymore this year," Boele said. "They have almost completely priced it out now."

Focus will also be on the currency markets ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

The ECB is expected to stop short of taking new policy steps towards quantitative easing, making sharp shifts in the euro and dollar unlikely.

Market sentiment was also dampened by technicals on Thursday, as gold once again moved down from the 200-day moving average around $1,175 per ounce, after last week breaking through it for the first time since May.

Gold prices are expected to keep edging down into next year. Goldman Sachs estimates gold prices at $1,100 in three months, $1,050 in six months and $1,000 in 12 months. Others forecast gold to drop below $1,000 in the second half of 2016, as the dollar strengthens further.

Silver was up 0.5 percent at $15.75 an ounce, platinum was down 0.4 percent at $996 an ounce and palladium was down 0.3 percent at $669.95 per ounce.

China imported 338 tonnes of silver in September, up 39 percent year-on-year, data showed on Wednesday.

"Chinese silver imports could thus serve once again to shore up the silver price," Commerzbank said in a note.

(Reporting by Mariana Ionova, editing by William Hardy)