Dec 8 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady near a two-week
high on Tuesday as mounting COVID-19 cases and fresh
restrictions boosted hopes for a U.S. pandemic stimulus package.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,863.30 per ounce
by 0058 GMT, having jumped as much as 1.7% to $1,868.25 on
Monday. U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.1% to $1,867.70.
* The U.S. Congress will vote this week on a stopgap funding
bill to provide more time to reach a deal on COVID-19 relief,
while U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said there
were signs of progress in talks on a bipartisan bill.
* California on Monday faced a raft of new COVID-19
restrictions, while a ban on indoor restaurant dining loomed in
New York City as the United States braced for another surge
during the upcoming holidays. * The Japanese government will compile a new COVID-19
economic stimulus package totalling 73.6 trillion yen ($708
billion) with fiscal measures at 40 trillion yen ($385 billion),
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday. * Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation that could
result from large stimulus.
* Britain will start rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine
developed by Pfizer PFE.N and BioNTech on Tuesday.
* British and EU leaders will meet face-to-face to try to
seal a post-Brexit trade deal after failing to narrow their
differences on Monday, with a senior British government source
saying there was every chance a deal would not be reached.
* SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.25% to 1,179.78
tonnes on Monday from 1,182.70 tonnes on Friday. * Silver XAG= was steady at $24.51 per ounce and palladium
XPD= was little changed at $2,330.71, while platinum XPT=
rose 0.4% to $1,025.00.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1000 EU Q3 GDP Revised