Gold holds near five-week highs, but potential U.S. rate hike drags

(Reuters) - Gold held steady on Thursday after hitting a five-week high in the previous session on geopolitical tensions, but expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates next month weighed on prices.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold > was down 0.1 percent at $1,267.32 per ounce at 0055 GMT. On Wednesday, it touched a session high of $1,273.74 an ounce, its strongest since April 25.

* U.S. gold futures fell 0.3 percent to $1,266.50.

* The dollar languished near a recent 6-1/2 month low against a basket of major currencies on Thursday. [USD/]

* The U.S. economy expanded at a modest to moderate pace from early April through late May, but showed little sign of breaking out of a recent trend of sluggish inflation, a survey conducted by the Fed showed on Wednesday.

 

* Federal funds futures implied traders saw an 87 percent chance the U.S. central bank would increase key overnight borrowing costs by a quarter point, to 1.00-1.25 percent, at its June 13-14 policy meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

* Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell for a second straight month in April amid a supply squeeze, but the housing market recovery remains supported by a strong labour market.

* U.S. President Donald Trump sought to insert himself into congressional investigations on Russia on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to hear from one of his former advisers, Carter Page, to counter testimony by directors of the FBI and CIA.

* Prime Minister Theresa May could lose control of parliament in Britain's June 8 election, according to a projection by polling company YouGov, raising the prospect of political turmoil just as formal Brexit talks begin.

* A consortium of investors led by China's Fosun International Ltd <0656.HK> will buy a 10 percent stake in Russia's top gold producer Polyus for $887 million, they said on Wednesday.

* The U.S. Mint sold 14,500 ounces of American Eagle gold coins in May, up 141.7 percent from the previous month, according to the latest data.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0145 China Caixin manufacturing PMI final May

0600 Britain Nationwide house prices May

0750 France Markit manufacturing PMI May

0755 Germany Markit/BME manufacturing PMI May

0800 Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI final May

1215 U.S. ADP national employment May

1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims

1400 U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI May

1400 U.S. Construction spending Apr

(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)