Gold hovers below 2-week high, but eyes second weekly gain

(Reuters) - Gold prices traded just below a two-week high on Friday, pressured by a firmer dollar, but was on track to log a second consecutive week of gains.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold > was down 0.1 percent at $1,265.99 an ounce at 0102 GMT, after hitting $1,268.91 - its highest level since Dec. 6 - in the previous session.

* It was up 0.85 percent for the week.

* U.S. gold futures slipped 0.1 percent to $1,269.4 an ounce.

* The dollar edged up on Friday though remained on track for weekly losses. [USD/]

* Asian stocks edged up on Friday on new data pointing to steady growth in the U.S. economy, while the euro slipped after a vote in Catalonia favoured separatists wanting to break away from Spain. [MKTS/GLOB]

 

* Republicans in the U.S. Congress on Thursday advanced stopgap legislation to keep the federal government operating past Friday when funding expires, seeking to avert a self-inflicted disaster just before the Christmas holiday season.

* More than 120 countries defied President Donald Trump on Thursday and voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

* The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in more than two years in the third quarter, powered by robust business spending, and is poised for what could be a modest lift next year from sweeping tax cuts passed by Congress this week.

* The federal tax bill that Congress approved this week is expected to provide a modest lift to the U.S. economy in 2018 and 2019, as lower taxes should help consumer spending and business spending, J.P. Morgan economists said on Thursday.

* The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and its governor said economic improvements alone would not trigger a withdrawal of stimulus, reassuring markets it will lag well behind its overseas peers in ending crisis-mode easing.

* The Moscow Exchange will launch deliverable futures for gold in 2018 in a move to further prop up bullion market liquidity, bourse chief executive Alexander Afanasiev said on Thursday.

* Workers at Pan African Resource's , flagship gold mine in South Africa embarked on a wildcat strike on Sunday in a dispute over living allowance, an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)