Gold holds near four-week high, Fed meeting in focus

Gold held steady early Tuesday after touching a four-week high in the prior session, with focus on a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting that begins later in the day and on Britain's June 23 vote on whether to leave the European Union.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= had dipped 0.1 percent to $1,282.41 an ounce by 0058 GMT. Bullion touched a session-peak of $1,287.0 on Monday, its highest since May 16.

* US gold GCcv1 edged 0.2 percent lower to $1,285.60

* The Fed is set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, with market players waiting for clues about when the central bank might next look to move on interest rates.

* US Treasuries are not as safe as investors assume, fund manager Michael Hasenstab said on Monday, as full employment and rising inflation put pressure on central bankers to raise rates.

* Britain's "Out" campaign widened its lead over the "In" camp ahead of the country's June 23 referendum, according to two opinion polls published by ICM on Monday. A vote by Britain to leave the 28-member EU, dubbed "Brexit," could tip Europe back into recession, putting more pressure on the global economy.

* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.27 percent to 896.30 tonnes on Monday, the highest since October 2013. [GOL/ETF]

* Gold priced in sterling rose to its highest since September 2013 on Monday as the British pound fell to an 8-week low against the dollar.

* Kinross Gold Corp K.TOKGC.N said on Monday a nearly three-week strike by unionized workers at its Tasiast mine in Mauritania ended on Saturday.

* South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has secured exclusive union rights for workers at platinum producer Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) (RBPJ.J), it said on Monday.

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [GOL]

MARKET REPORT

* The British pound remained fragile near a two-month low against the dollar and the yen hovered near six-week highs against the US currency. [USD/]

* Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday amid growing worries this month's referendum in Britain could see it exit the European Union, while markets were also nervous ahead of the Fed meeting. [MKTS/GLOB]

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0900 Euro zone employment Q1

0900 Euro zone industrial production Apr

1000 US NFIB business optimism May

1230 US retail sales May

1230 US import prices May

1230 US export prices May

1400 US business inventories Apr

Federal Open Market Committee starts two-day policy meeting

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