(Corrects to change date)
May 24 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Friday after
rising above $1,280 in the previous session as weaker U.S. data
pushed back the dollar and reignited hopes of a rate cut by the
Federal Reserve this year.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was broadly unchanged at $1,283.18 per
ounce as of 0056 GMT, having risen more than 1% to $1,287.23 in
the previous session.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 eased 0.2% to $1,282.40 an
ounce.
* The metal is also on track for a weekly gain, and is up
about 0.5% so far.
* The U.S. dollar retreated after hitting its highest level
in two years as weaker domestic data and the potential economic
fallout from the trade war with China increased expectations for
an interest-rate cut this year. FRX/
* Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell from near an
11-1/2-year high in April as prices rebounded and manufacturing
activity hit its lowest level in almost a decade in May,
suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic growth was underway.
* Asian shares hobbled near four-month lows on Friday on
worries the U.S.-China trade spat was turning into a technology
cold war between the world's two largest economies, prompting
investors to embrace safer assets. MKTS/GLOB
* President Donald Trump said on Thursday U.S. complaints
against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL might be resolved
within the framework of a U.S.-China trade deal, while at the
same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant "very
dangerous." * The U.S. administration is considering Huawei-like
sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision over the
country's treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority, a person
briefed on the matter said on Wednesday, the latest effort by
the Trump administration to crack down on Chinese companies as
trade friction between the world's top two economies escalates.
* The U.S. military said it sent two Navy ships through the
Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, its latest transit through the
sensitive waterway, angering China at a time of tense relations
between the world's two biggest economies. * Bullion is often seen as a safe-haven investment in times
of political or economic uncertainty.
* Ongoing stoppages at Newmont Goldcorp Corp's NEM.N
Penasquito gold mine in Mexico are costing "millions" every day
to both public coffers and the company, a senior Mexican
official said on Thursday, urging a solution that will restart
operations. DATA AHEAD (GMT)
* 0830 UK Retail Sales MM YY April
* 0830 UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM April
* 1230 U.S. Durable Goods April