Gold prices inch up as equities slide

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday as most global stock markets fell and as the U.S. dollar eased below an over three-month high hit in the previous session.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold > was up 0.1 percent at $1,330.96 per ounce at 0058 GMT. Prices on Tuesday rose 0.5 percent to break a three-session losing streak.

* U.S. gold futures were steady at $1,332.60 per ounce.

* Asian shares were under pressure on Wednesday, with a rise in U.S. bond yields above the 3-percent threshold and warnings from bellwether U.S. companies of higher costs driving fears that corporate earnings growth may peak soon. [MKTS/GLOB] [US/]

 

* The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was little changed at 90.800, lower than 91.076 hit in the previous session, its strongest level since Jan. 12. [USD/]

* U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to seek stronger measures to contain Iran but Trump refrained from committing to staying in a 2015 nuclear deal and threatened Tehran with retaliation if it restarted its nuclear programme.

* Trump on Tuesday said the United States would likely reach a trade agreement with China and that officials from both sides would sit down for negotiations in a few days.

* The uncertainty being generated by U.S. trade tariffs is already hurting investment in the global economy and could do serious damage to world growth, European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday.

* Trump said on Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had been "very honourable" and discussions on a planned summit were going well, but tempered expectations for any quick denuclearisation deal by saying "it may be we're all wasting a lot of time."

* U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in April and new home sales increased more than expected in March, pointing to underlying strength in the economy despite signs that growth slowed in the first quarter.

* The price of silver will depend heavily on trends in investment demand in 2018, but could get a boost from international political and economic risk purchases, CPM Group said on Tuesday.

* Canada's Centerra Gold said on Tuesday it had received an unsolicited bid for its Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan from Chaarat Gold Holdings (CGH) but that it had informed the London-listed company that it was not interested in the offer.

* South Africa's mines minister will appeal a court ruling that held that mining companies did not have to maintain at least 26 percent black ownership in perpetuity, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)