Gold under pressure ahead of Fed as dollar firms

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold added to small overnight losses to hover near $1,180 an ounce on Wednesday as the dollar firmed and investors waited for a Federal Reserve statement later in the session for clues on the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike.

The lack of sustainable safe-haven bids from the ongoing Greek debt crisis also dragged on prices.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold had eased 0.1 percent to $1,180.16 an ounce by 0039 GMT, after dipping 0.4 percent in the previous session.

Bullion came under pressure as the dollar climbed after data showed U.S. permits for future home construction surged to a near eight-year high in May, suggesting a build up of momentum in housing and the broader economy, and boosting expectations the Fed will soon hike rates.

Markets were waiting for a statement on Wednesday following the two-day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting, looking for clues from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on when the U.S. central bank could begin to raise interest rates from record lows.

Bullion has not made much headway in recent months because of uncertainty over the timing of a rate rise, which would reduce demand for the non-interest-paying asset.

The precious metal failed to get much support from the Greek debt crisis. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Greece's creditors on Tuesday of trying to "humiliate" Greeks with more cuts as he defied a growing drumbeat of warnings that Europe was preparing for his country to leave the euro.

The unrepentant address to lawmakers after the collapse of talks with European and IMF lenders at the weekend was the clearest sign yet that the leftist leader has no intention of making a last-minute U-turn and accepting austerity cuts needed to unlock frozen aid and avoid a debt default within two weeks.

Gold is typically seen as a safe-bet during times of financial and economic uncertainty, but those bids have failed to emerge in a robust way as the expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike continued to weigh.

The Bank of China will join seven others on the electronic platform that sets the gold price benchmark, the first Chinese bank to do so, the London Bullion Market Association said on Tuesday.

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