SINGAPORE: Gold struggled to recover from overnight losses on Tuesday on expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week and a robust dollar. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,071.52 an ounce by 0009 GMT. It fell as much as 1.6 percent on Monday to hit a session low of $1,069.66. * Friday's strong US nonfarm payrolls data supported widely held market views that the Fed would hike interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade later this month. * Gold gained 2.3 percent on Friday on short-covering immediately after the data, but with the focus back on the rate rise next week, investors sold off the metal on Monday. * The dollar extended gains against a basket of major currencies on Monday, helped by the jobs data and the looming rate hike, further weighing on bullion. * Higher rates tend to drag on non-interest-paying gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding it, while boosting the dollar. * Bullion has lost about 9.5 percent for the year, its third straight annual decline, on expectations of the rate hike. * Investor sentiment has been downbeat. Assets in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, tumbled 0.65 percent to 634.63 tonnes on Monday, the lowest since September 2008. * Elsewhere, China likely added nearly 21 tonnes of gold to its reserves in November, according to Reuters calculations from central bank data on Monday. * The central bank's biggest purchase in five months failed to provide much support for the gold price. MARKET NEWS * Oil prices skidded to their lowest level in nearly seven years on Monday as a global glut showed no signs of abating. Stock markets fell. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0200 China Trade data Nov 1000 Euro zone Revised GDP Q3 1100 US NFIB business optimism Nov