SINGAPORE, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on
Tuesday, after falling in the previous session on a weaker euro,
while prices were on track for their biggest monthly increase
since August.
   
    FUNDAMENTALS
    * Spot gold added $1.05 an ounce to $1,729.69 an
ounce by 0030 GMT, having hit an intraday low around $1,716 on
Monday. Gold struck a record at $1,920.30 last September.
    * Prices were headed for a more than 10 percent rise this
month, highest since a 12 percent gain in August 2011.
    * Gold rose about 5 percent last week, its fourth
consecutive weekly gain, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it
was unlikely to raise interest rates from near zero until at
least late 2014, which could put pressure on the dollar.
    * Chancellor Angela Merkel cemented her political ascendancy
in Europe on Monday when 25 out of 27 EU states agreed to a
German-inspired pact for stricter budget discipline, even as
they struggled to rekindle growth from the ashes of austerity.
    But differences over the limits of austerity, and Greece's
unfinished debt restructuring negotiations, hampered efforts to
convey a more optimistic message that Europe is getting on top
of its debt crisis.
    * U.S. February gold was steady at $1,731.50 an
ounce.
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    MARKET NEWS
    * The dollar floundered around three-month lows versus the
yen in Asia on Tuesday and was near enough to record depths to
make markets wary of intervention, while the euro nursed losses
as Greece's debt swap deal proved elusive.
    * Japan's Nikkei share average dipped in early trade on
Tuesday, down for the fourth straight session, as Canon Inc
and Fujiflim Holdings fell after their
earnings results, though Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
gained.
    * U.S. crude oil rose above $99 a barrel on Tuesday on
concerns over supply disruptions in South Sudan and OPEC member
Iran.
    
    DATA/EVENTS
    0500  Japan Construction orders yy   Dec 2011  

    0700  Germany Retail sales yy real   Dec 2011  

    1100  Brazil Industrial output yy    Dec 2011   

    1245  U.S. ICSC chain stores yy      Weekly    

    1445  U.S. Chicago PMI               Jan       

    1500  U.S. Consumer confidence       Jan          
    PRICES
  Precious metals prices 0030 GMT
  Metal                                  Last            Change       Pct chg    YTD pct chg     Volume
  Spot Gold                          1729.69        1.05          +0.06            10.61
  Spot Silver                        33.46              0.00         +0.00            20.84
  Spot Platinum                  1614.00         4.76         +0.30            15.87
  Spot Palladium               686.72            3.02         +0.44            5.24
  COMEX GOLD FEB2      730.20          -0.80          -0.05            10.43               179
  COMEX SILVER MAR2   33.47             -0.06         -0.18            19.88               415
  Euro/Dollar                       3142
  Dollar/Yen                         76.37
 

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