Jan 15 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday as U.S.
President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a massive stimulus plan,
while U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's commitment to
keep monetary policy dovish further boosted the metal's appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= rose 0.2% to $1,850.36 per ounce by 0042
GMT, while U.S. gold futures GCv1 were flat at $1,852.20.
* Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal
on Thursday designed to jump-start the economy and speed up the
U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. * With the U.S. economy still far from its inflation and
employment goals it is too early for the Federal Reserve to
discuss changing its monthly bond purchases, Powell said on
Thursday.
* The number of Americans filing first-time applications for
unemployment benefits surged last week, confirming a weakening
in labor market conditions with a worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
* Global coronavirus cases rose to more than 92.22 million.
* America will be in uncharted territory when the U.S.
Senate meets as soon as next week for the second impeachment
trial of Donald Trump, after the House of Representatives
impeached Trump on Wednesday on charges of incitement one week
after his supporters rampaged in the Capitol. * SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.9% to 1,161.00
tonnes on Thursday from 1,171.21 tonnes on
Wednesday. * Silver XAG= rose 0.5% to $25.65 an ounce. Platinum
XPT= eased 0.2% to $1,116.52, while palladium XPD= shed 0.1%
to $2,406.99.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK GDP Estimate 3M/3M Nov
0700 UK GDP Estimate MM, YY Nov
0700 UK Manufacturing Output MM Nov
0745 France CPI (EU Norm) Final MM, YY Dec
1100 EU Reserve Assets Total Dec
1330 US Retail Sales MM Dec
1415 US Industrial Production MM Dec
1500 US U Mich Sentiment Prelim Jan