SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold was trading near its highest in 2-1/2 weeks on Friday, and looked set to log its best week in a month on weaker equities and increasing hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold off on tighter interest rates.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold eased 0.08 percent to $1,317.35 an ounce by 0025 GMT, after three straight days of gains. The precious metal is up 1.2 percent for the week.
* It hit a high of $1,324.40 on Thursday - its highest since March 24.
* Gold investors were reassured by Wednesday's release of the Fed's March meeting minutes that showed policymakers were not keen on rising interest rates straight after the wind-down of bond purchases, as the markets had feared.
* Gold's safe-haven appeal was also boosted by the biggest one-day drop on Nasdaq since August 2011 on Thursday.
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* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.26 tonnes to 806.22 tonnes on Thursday.
* Goldcorp Inc raised its hostile takeover offer for Osisko Mining Corp , squeaking above a white knight bid by Yamana Gold Inc and heightening a bidding war that has helped inject life into a depressed gold mining sector.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin)