Gold prices inch up on steady dollar

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices rose slightly on Tuesday, after easing in the previous session, as the dollar held steady after marking a fresh 2018 peak.

FUNDAMENTALS

** Spot gold > rose 0.1 percent to $1,315.24 per ounce at 0051 GMT.

** U.S. gold futures for June delivery were up 0.1 percent at $1,315.80 per ounce.

** The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was little changed at 92.697 after hitting its best since December at 92.974 on Monday. [USD/]

** Oil prices retreated from three-and-a-half-year highs on Tuesday as investors waited on an announcement by President Donald Trump on whether the United States will reimpose sanctions on Iran. [O/R]

 

** Trump said he would announce a decision on Tuesday about the future of an international nuclear agreement with Iran, as Tehran hinted it might stay in the 2015 accord even if Washington pulls out.

** China's top economic official will visit Washington next week to resume trade talks with the Trump administration, the White House said on Monday, after discussions in Beijing last week failed to produce agreement on a long list of U.S. trade demands.

** As benchmark oil prices touched $70 a barrel, Federal Reserve officials on Monday said that rising U.S. inflation and wage pressures are not enough yet to prompt a change in the central bank's rate outlook.

** Government bond yields in the euro area rose in late Monday trading after the European Central Bank's chief economist Peter Praet said an unexpected drop in euro zone core inflation may be a one-off.

** The Bank of Japan's decision to drop a timeframe for hitting its inflation target shows it is losing confidence in its price outlook and could mean it puts off exiting easy policy for years to come, a former central bank executive said.

(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)