Gold holds near two-week high on easing rate hike fears

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold steadied near two-week highs on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting showed that officials were not keen on increasing interest rates anytime soon.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was flat at $1,311.45 an ounce by 0034 GMT, after rising for the last two sessions.

* The minutes from the Fed's March 18-19 meeting showed policymakers were unanimous in wanting to ditch the thresholds they had used to telegraph a policy tightening and did not reveal any discussion of keeping rates near zero for a "considerable time," as the Fed mentioned in a policy statement issued after the meeting.

 

* Gold stocks sitting inside U.S. exchange warehouses have risen to a 10-month high as physical buying has continued to weaken, underscoring concerns about slowing demand from Asia.

* Russia's biggest gold miner Polyus Gold is considering delisting from London, Kommersant newspaper said, which would make it the first Russian company to heed a call by officials to bring assets home to survive Western sanctions.

* South Africa-based coal producer Exxaro hopes to diversify into platinum group metals and is looking at opportunities which could include assets Anglo American has signaled it might divest.

MARKET NEWS

* Asian shares look to extend recent solid gains on Thursday, while the dollar drifted at three-week lows against a basket of major currencies.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Ed Davies)