Gold up on buying, euro strength after Macron's win in France

REUTERS - Gold firmed on Monday as bargain-hunters moved in after prices dipped to seven-week lows and as the euro strengthened after expected win of pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,229.90 per ounce as of 0124 GMT, after touching 1,224.86 earlier in the session, its lowest since March 17.

* Gold last week saw its biggest weekly percentage fall since the week ending Nov. 11, ending over 3 percent lower.

* U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $1,230.50 an ounce.

* In early Asian trading, the euro hit its highest since Nov. 9 after centrist Emmanuel Macron comfortably won the French presidential election.

* Macron was elected French president on Sunday with a business-friendly vision of European integration, defeating Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist who threatened to take France out of the European Union.

* U.S. job growth rebounded sharply in April and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent, near a 10-year low, pointing to a tightening labor market that likely seals the case for an interest rate increase next month despite moderate wage growth.

* Gold demand in India could be muted in the second half of 2017, as the rollout of a new national sales tax from July is expected to dent appetite in the world's second-biggest consumer, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

* Hedge funds and other money managers cut their net long position in COMEX gold for the first time in seven weeks, in the week to May 2, while they reduced their bullish stance in silver to the lowest since January, U.S. government data showed Friday.

* Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) said it plans to introduce physically settled CNH (offshore renminbi, or RMB) and U.S. dollar gold futures contracts in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval.

* China's gold reserves were unchanged at 59.24 million ounces in April, the country's central bank said on Sunday.

* Gold demand in Asia rose last week, helped by a correction in prices, but traders said some buyers have held back from purchases while they wait for bullion prices to drop further.

* Industrial gold production in Mali could drop slightly this year as the West African country awaits production from new mines in 2018, the ministry of mines said on Friday.

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru)