PRECIOUS-Gold bounces on U.S. dollar but near 4-month low
SINGAPORE, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Gold regained strength on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro, but the metal was still within sight of its weakest in nearly four months after signs of progress in the U.S. fiscal talks dented its safe haven appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Gold added $5.85 an ounce to $1,675.39 by 0032 GMT after falling to $1,661.01 on Tuesday, its lowest since August on technical selling and growing hopes U.S. legislators are closer to reaching a deal that would avert a fiscal crisis next month.
* U.S. gold futures for February rose $6.20 an ounce to $1,676.90.
* U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he expects a vote on a Republican offer to avert the "fiscal cliff" on Thursday, and he expects to have enough votes to pass the measure.
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MARKET NEWS
* The euro hovered at multi-month highs against the dollar and yen on Wednesday, having extended recent gains as tentative signs of progress in the U.S. fiscal talks bolstered demand for riskier assets. A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.
* Japan's Nikkei share average is set to test eight-month highs above 10,000 on Wednesday as investor appetite is boosted by signs of progress in the U.S. fiscal talks and expectations of aggressive monetary easing under the new Japanese government.
DATA/EVENTS
0900 Germany Ifo business climate Dec 0900 Germany Ifo current conditions Dec 0900 Germany Ifo expectations Dec 1330 U.S. Build permits: change mm Nov 1330 U.S. House starts mm: change Nov 1330 U.S. Housing starts number mm Nov 1200 U.S. Weekly mortgage market index N/A Bank of Japan begins two-day policy meeting
PRICES
Precious metals prices 0032 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1675.39 5.85 +0.35 7.14 Spot Silver 31.76 0.14 +0.44 14.70 Spot Platinum 1595.00 4.00 +0.25 14.50 Spot Palladium 687.50 1.00 +0.15 5.36 COMEX GOLD FEB3 1676.90 6.20 +0.37 7.03 3534 COMEX SILVER MAR3 31.82 0.15 +0.46 13.97 761 Euro/Dollar 1.3227 Dollar/Yen 84.37
(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ed Davies)