PRECIOUS-Gold Steady Near Late April Highs As Asian Stocks Slip
June 6 - Gold held steady early Tuesday, hovering close to a more than six-week high hit in the previous session, on weaker Asian stocks and amid tapered expectations for aggressive U.S. rate hikes this year.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,280.60 per ounce at 0105 GMT. On Monday, it hit a peak of $1,283.27 an ounce, its highest level since April 21.
* U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.1 percent to $1,283.6 an ounce.
* Palladium on Monday hit its strongest level since September 2014 at $849.40.
* MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent in early trade, pulling back from a two-year high hit on Monday.
* U.S. services sector activity slowed in May as new orders tumbled, but a jump in employment to a near two-year high pointed to sustained labor market strength despite a deceleration in job growth last month.
* Euro zone business activity remained strong in May, underpinned by increasing demand, according to a survey released on Monday, which suggested the pace of growth was putting the economy on a path towards a sustained recovery.
* The Arab world's biggest powers cut ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of support for Islamist militants and Iran, and reopening a festering wound two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for Muslim states to fight terrorism.
* China's economy is likely to have remained on a stable footing in May, buoyed by solid gains in trade and investment as economic ties with the United States take a positive turn and infrastructure spending cushions domestic growth.
* India's gold imports in May surged fourfold from a year ago to 103 tonnes as jewellers increased purchases to replenish inventory and stock up ahead of a new national sales tax, provisional data from consultancy GFMS showed.
* Russia's largest gold producer Polyus on Monday announced its intention to conduct offering on the London Stock Exchange and the Moscow Exchange.
* Russia produced 68.68 tonnes of gold in the first four months of 2017, up from 67.75 tonnes in the same period last year, the finance ministry said in a statement on Monday.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0830 Euro zone Sentix index Jun
0900 Euro zone Retail sales Apr
(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin)
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