SINGAPORE: Gold was trading near its lowest in over a week on Thursday, hurt by a stronger dollar and an overnight sell-off following the metal's failure to breach a key technical level.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,166.40 an ounce by 0043 GMT. It fell to $1,163.50 on Wednesday, the lowest since Oct. 13, before paring some losses to close down 0.8 percent.

* Bullion briefly burst through its 200-day moving average around $1,175 per ounce on Wednesday for a sixth straight day, before easing back more than $10 to a session low.

* Its failure to hold above long-term resistance undermined sentiment and increased selling pressure, traders said.

* The metal was also hurt by strength in the dollar, which rose on Wednesday as investors clamoured for safety against emerging market currencies and commodity-linked units following a slide in the Chinese stock market. [USD/]

* A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold expensive for holders of other currencies.

* Bullion investors will be keeping a close watch on the currency markets for trading cues. The European Central Bank meets later on Thursday and is likely to stop short of actually taking new policy steps as it awaits fresh indications about the outlook for flagging euro zone inflation.

* Attention will also be on US data due later in the session as traders hunt for clues about the strength of the economy and how it could impact the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

* Uncertainty over the timing of a looming U.S. rate hike has weighed on the metal. Market expectations for a hike have shifted to next year in recent weeks amid concerns about the global economy, although some haven't completely ruled out a rate rise in December on recent robust U.S. economic data.

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MARKET NEWS

* The euro struggled to break above its recent ranges ahead of the ECB meeting later on Thursday.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0645 France Business climate Oct

1145 European Central Bank announces policy meeting outcome

1230 US Weekly jobless claims

1230 US National Activity index Sep

1300 US Monthly home price index Aug

1400 Euro zone Consumer confidence Oct

1400 US Existing home sales Sep

1400 US Leading index Sep

PRICES AT 0043 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct chg

Spot gold 1166.4 -0.3 -0.03

Spot silver 15.69 0.01 0.06

Spot platinum 1000.5 1 0.1

Spot palladium 674 2 0.3

Comex gold 1166.6 -0.5 -0.04

Comex silver 15.685 -0.025 -0.16

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months