SINGAPORE: Gold traded little changed on Wednesday, after drifting down for two straight days as rekindled concerns about the euro zone's debt crisis weighed on the euro and boosted the dollar, putting pressure on bullion.
FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was little changed at $1,761.29 an ounce by 0044 GMT. US gold inched down 0.1 percent to $1,764.
US home prices rose for a sixth straight month in July in the latest sign of a sustainable housing market recovery, while a jump in consumer confidence this month offered a harbinger that Americans are ready to loosen their spending.
Protesters clashed with police in Spain's capital on Tuesday as the government prepares a new round of unpopular austerity measures for the 2013 budget to be announced on Thursday.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings had risen to a record high of 1,331.331 tonnes by Sept. 25.
Supporting the sentiment in gold, the latest IMF data showed South Korea increased its holdings of gold by nearly 16 tonnes in July, along with Paraguay, which raised its reserves in July from a few thousand ounces to more than 8 tonnes, continuing the trend among central banks to hold more bullion.
Citigroup raised its gold price forecast for 2013 to $1,749 an ounce from $1,695, and increased forecast for 2012 to $1,680 from $1,645.
The labour unrest in South Africa's mining sector continued to spread. World No. 4 bullion producer Gold Fields said workers reneged on a deal to end a two-week strike at its KDC West operation in South Africa and miners at its Beatrix mine had also downed tools.
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