SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on Tuesday to within a whisker of the $1,300-an-ounce level, regaining ground from overnight losses as weaker equities increased its safe-haven appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,298.11 an ounce by 0026 GMT. It fell 0.5 percent in the previous session as a short-covering rally after U.S. jobs data fizzed out.
* Holdings of the world's largest platinum-backed exchange-traded fund, Johannesburg's NewPlat ETF, breached 1 million ounces for the first time last week, data from the fund showed, as a strike in the South African platinum sector prompted new buying.
* Mining-focused private equity firm Waterton Global Resource Management has raised $1.016 billion for its latest flagship precious metals fund.
* BlackRock said that gold ETPs had experienced a "momentum shift" in the first quarter with interest rates holding steady and higher prices. Gold ETPs attracted some $626 million in March and $154 million over the quarter, according to BlackRock.
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MARKET NEWS
* Wall Street stocks slumped on Monday, extending a broad retreat in global equities markets from a six-year high touched last week, while U.S. Treasuries' yields moved lower.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
