Strong dollar, U.S. rate hike prospects keep pressure on gold

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold clung to small overnight gains on Tuesday but was within striking distance of a nearly six-year low, pressured by a robust dollar and a looming U.S. interest rate hike.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,064.66 an ounce by 0036 GMT, after gaining 0.5 percent on Monday.

* But the metal wasn't far from $1,052.46, its lowest since Feb. 2010 hit last week. Bullion also posted its biggest monthly drop in 2-1/2 years in November with a 7-percent decline.

* Investors have been positioning for a U.S. rate hike, expected this month at the Federal Reserve's Dec. 15-16 policy meet, by selling non-interest-paying gold.

* The dollar, on the other hand, was on the cusp of reaching its highest in nearly 13 years against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, piling more pressure on greenback-denominated gold.

* A U.S. payrolls report on Friday will be closely watched for clues about the strength of the economy and its impact on the Fed's monetary policy. A strong number, after a surge in job growth in October, could cement expectations that the U.S. central bank will deliver its first hike in almost a decade.

* Hedge funds and money managers raised their net short position in COMEX gold contracts to the biggest on record in the week to Nov. 24, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Monday.

* Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, are at their lowest since September 2008.

* In the physical markets, there were signs of strong demand but not enough to provide a boost to gold prices.

* The U.S. Mint's sales of American Eagle coins surged in November, with gold nearly tripling month-over-month and silver already reaching a new annual record as bullion prices fell to multi-year lows, data on Monday showed.

* U.S. jewellery imports jumped 85 percent for platinum in the third quarter of 2015 and 12 percent for gold, ahead of the holiday season, as prices for both precious metals fell for the fifth straight quarter, Thomson Reuters GFMS calculations showed on Monday.

* Elsewhere, gold ounces transferred between accounts held by bullion clearers rose 2 percent in October from a month earlier, the London Bullion Market Association said.

* India is set to discuss changes to a scheme to unlock the country's massive stash of gold at a high-level meeting on Tuesday, after a muted response to the programme in the first month of its launch, according to banking sources.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0100 China NBS Non-mfg PMI Nov

0100 China NBS Manufacturing PMI Nov

0145 China Caixin Mfg PMI Final Nov

1445 U.S. Markit Mfg PMI Nov

1500 U.S. Construction spending Oct

1500 U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI Nov

1830 U.S. Total vehicle sales

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