PRECIOUS-Gold heads for 3rd straight weekly drop; US fiscal talks eyed
SINGAPORE, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Gold edged lower on Friday, with prices heading for their third consecutive weekly decline as investors cautiously watch U.S. talks to avoid a looming fiscal calamity that has so far made little progress.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold inched down 0.1 percent to $1,694.35 an ounce by 0036 GMT, on course for a 0.5-percent weekly decline.
* U.S. gold was little changed at $1,695.60.
* U.S. President Barack Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner met for about an hour on Thursday as frustration mounted over the lack of progress in budget talks.
* Worries about the stalemate in talks to avert the $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts in early 2013, which could tip the world's largest economy back into recession, overshadowed data showing sharp falls in jobless claims and a rebound in retail sales.
* The euro zone agreed on Thursday to provide nearly 50 billion euros ($64 billion) in long-delayed aid to Athens, prompting its Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to declare an end to talk of a Greek exit from the single currency.
* Spot palladium inched down 0.3 percent to $687.30, headed for a 1.2-percent fall from a week earlier, snapping a six-week winning streak.
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MARKET NEWS
* The S&P 500 ended its six-day winning streak on Thursday, retreating as worries intensified over Washington's "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
* The yen remained in the doldrums on Friday as investors continued to give it a wide berth on expectations the Bank of Japan would print more money next week to stimulate the world's third biggest economy.
DATA/EVENTS
0145 China HSBC flash manufacturing PMI Dec 0430 Japan Revised industrial output Oct 0758 France Markit flash manufacturing PMI Dec 0828 Germany Markit flash manufacturing PMI Dec
0858 Euro zone Markit flash manufacturing PMI Dec 0900 Euro zone ECB Financial Stability Review
1330 U.S. CPI Nov 1415 U.S. Industrial output Nov
PRICES Precious metals prices 0036 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1694.35 -2.34 -0.14 8.35 Spot Silver 32.48 -0.03 -0.09 17.30 Spot Platinum 1606.50 -4.99 -0.31 15.33 Spot Palladium 687.30 -1.70 -0.25 5.33 COMEX GOLD FEB3 1695.60 -1.20 -0.07 8.22 1703 COMEX SILVER MAR3 32.56 0.20 +0.62 16.62 396 Euro/Dollar 1.3068 Dollar/Yen 83.63
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)