Gold stuck near three month low as dollar strength weighs

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold hovered near its lowest in over three months on Wednesday, hurt by consecutive losses in the last seven sessions as a robust dollar and expectations of higher U.S. interest rates curbed appetite for the metal.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold had ticked up slightly to $1,163.15 an ounce by 0042 GMT, after dropping 4 percent in the seven sessions to Tuesday.

* The metal slumped to $1,155.60 in the previous session, its lowest since Dec. 1.

* Bullion has taken a hit from stronger-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data that renewed expectations the Federal Reserve would begin to increase interest rates in June.

* Higher rates could dent demand for assets that do not pay interest such as gold, and boost the dollar.

* The U.S. dollar hit a near 12-year peak against the euro and touched its highest level against the Japanese yen in nearly eight years on Tuesday, buoyed by the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme, as well as expectations for a mid-year rate hike. [USD/]

* The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, hit its highest since September 2003.

* Other precious metals have also taken a hit along with gold. Platinum slumped to its lowest since July 2009 on Tuesday, while silver fell to a two-month low in the same session.

* U.S.-based gold miner Allied Nevada Gold Corp filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, buckling under a heavy debt load amid weaker metal prices.

* Venezuela's central bank is in talks with Wall Street banks to create a gold swap that would allow it to monetize some $1.5 billion of the metal held as international reserves, according to government sources familiar with the operation.

* The platinum market is expected to be in deficit of 235,000 ounces this year, a report by the World Platinum Investment Council estimated on Wednesday, down 66 percent from 2014 levels, on stronger mining and recycling supply growth.

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

MARKET NEWS

* The benchmark S&P 500 stock index tumbled to close at its lowest in more than a month on Tuesday. Concerns over Greece added to the bearish mood on Wall Street, as technical negotiations intended to prevent Greece going bankrupt will start on Wednesday. [MKTS/GLOB]

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0530 China Industrial output Feb

0530 China Retail sales Feb

0530 China Urban investment Feb

1800 U.S. Federal budget Feb

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Joseph Radford)