SINGAPORE, Jan 17(Reuters) - Spot gold traded steady
on Tuesday after Standard & Poor's downgraded the euro zone's
rescue fund, while investors watched for growth data from China
to gauge the impact of the region's debt crisis on the global
economy.	
    	
    FUNDAMENTALS	
    * Spot gold inched up 0.1 percent to $1,645.60 an
ounce by 0034 GMT.	
    * U.S. gold gained nearly 1 percent to $1,646.30.	
    * After downgrading nine euro zone nations en masse last
Friday, S&P cut its credit rating of the bloc's EFSF rescue
fund, adding pressure on Greece to break a deadlock in debt swap
talks to avoid a default. 	
    * But the downgrades failed to stifle government funding on
debt markets on Monday, with French short-term borrowing costs
falling slightly and Austria saying the cut did not alter its
issuance plans. 	
    * China is due to release later on Tuesday its gross
domestic product growth for the fourth quarter of 2011, which is
expected to show the world's second-largest economy on track to
slow for a fourth successive quarter.    	
    * For the top stories on metals and other news, click
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    MARKET NEWS	
    * The euro hovered just above a 17-month trough against the
dollar early in Asia on Tuesday after Standard & Poor's dealt
the euro zone yet another blow by downgrading its bailout fund.
 	
    * Asian shares inched higher on Tuesday as investors focused
on economic data from China to gauge the impact of the euro zone
debt crisis on global growth.  	
       	
    DATA/EVENTS	
 0200  China     GDP yy                       Q4                   
 0200  China     Industrial output yy         Dec                  
 0200  China     Retail sales yy              Dec                  
 0200  China     Urban investment (ytd)yy     Dec                  
 1000  EZ        Inflation, final yy          Dec                  
 1000  Germany   ZEW economic sentiment       Jan                  
 1230  U.S.      NY Fed manufacturing         Jan                  
 1400  Canada    BoC rate decision                                 
        	
    PRICES	
     Precious metals prices 0034 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1645.60    2.22   +0.14      5.23
  Spot Silver        29.99    0.06   +0.20      8.31
  Spot Platinum    1501.75    9.57   +0.64      7.81
  Spot Palladium    643.00    6.65   +1.05     -1.46
  COMEX GOLD FEB2  1646.30   15.50   +0.95      5.07        47700
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  29.98    0.45   +1.53      7.38         6934
  Euro/Dollar       1.2674
  Dollar/Yen         76.79
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
 	
 (Reporting by Rujun Shen;Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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