June 24 (Reuters) - Gold prices extended gains in early
Asian trade on Monday, hovering near a six-year peak touched in
the previous session, as a weaker dollar and heightened tensions
between the United States and Iran underpinned the precious
metal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was up 0.6% at $1,406.56 per ounce as of
0114 GMT, heading for a fifth straight session of gains. Gold
prices hit $1,410.78 on Friday, their highest since Sept. 4,
2013.
* U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.7% to $1,410.20 per ounce.
* While U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was
not seeking war with Tehran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
said "significant" sanctions on Tehran would be announced on
Monday. * The dollar fell to a three-month low against a basket of
currencies on bets the U.S. Federal Reserve would start lowering
interest rates. USD/
* The Fed and the European Central Bank last week hinted
they were open to ease policies to counter a global economic
slowdown, exacerbated by global trade tensions. * The focus now shifts to whether Washington and Beijing can
resolve their trade dispute at a summit in Japan this week of
leaders from the Group of 20 leading world economies.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the G20 summit in
Japan this week, state-run Xinhua news agency said on Sunday,
giving the first official confirmation of his attendance at a
gathering where he is expected to meet U.S. President Donald
Trump. * Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it
was adding several Chinese companies and a government-owned
institute involved in super computing with military applications
to its national security "entity list" that bars them from
buying U.S. parts and components without government
approval. * Asian shares were off to a cautious start on Monday as
investors pinned their hopes on any signs of a thaw in Sino-U.S.
trade negotiations. MKTS/GLOB
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 4.57% to 799.03 tonnes on
Friday from 764.10 tonnes on Thursday. GOL/
* Hedge funds and money managers boosted their bullish
stance in COMEX gold in the week to June 18, the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. * Physical gold discounts in India widened to their highest
in almost three years last week as local prices surged to record
peaks, while Asian hubs, barring China, saw aggressive selling
from customers as global bullion rates scaled a six-year peak.
GOL/AS
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
* 1330 Brazil Current Account May
* 1330 Brazil Foreign Direct Investment May