Sept 27 (Reuters) - Gold traded flat early on Friday but the
metal was poised to end the week lower, as investors preferred
the safety of the dollar in the wake of political uncertainties
in the United States.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was unchanged at $1,505.74 per ounce, as
of 0133 GMT. Prices were down 0.7% for the week, after rising
about 2% last week.
* U.S. gold futures GCv1 were 0.2% lower at $1,512.6 per
ounce.
* The dollar was holding near multi-week highs against most
major currencies, while Asian shares were on course for a second
straight weekly loss. MKTS/GLOB
* A whistleblower report released on Thursday said President
Donald Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit
Ukraine's interference in the 2020 U.S. election for his
political benefit, but that the White House tried to "lock down"
evidence about that conduct. * U.S. inflation expectations are currently in line with the
central bank's 2% goal, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard
Clarida said on Thursday, a remark that suggests he does not see
a pressing need for new rate cuts to push inflation back up.
* U.S. business investment contracted more sharply than
previously estimated in the second quarter and corporate profit
growth was tepid, casting a shadow on an economy that is being
stalked by financial market fears of a recession. * China's top diplomat said on Thursday that China was
willing to buy more U.S. products, and said trade talks would
yield results if both sides "take more enthusiastic measures" to
show goodwill and reduce "pessimistic language" in their trade
dispute. * U.S. is unlikely to extend a waiver allowing American
firms to supply China's Huawei Technologies HWT.UL , Bloomberg
reported on Thursday, citing a government official. * Britain has yet to provide "legal and operational"
proposals that could break the impasse over its departure from
the European Union, the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier
said on Thursday. * China's net monthly gold imports via Hong Kong in August
surged nearly 61%, after falling to their lowest in more than
eight years in July, the Hong Kong Census and Statistics
Department data showed on Thursday. * Gold production in Russia for the first five months of
this year rose to 101.44 tonnes from 92.56 tonnes in the same
period a year earlier, Russia's finance ministry said on
Thursday. AHEAD
0645 France CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY Sept
0900 EU Consumer Confid. Final Sept
1230 US Consumption, Adjusted MM Aug
1230 US Durable Goods Aug
1230 US U Mich Sentiment Final Sept