PRECIOUS-Gold flat as investors wait for BOJ decision
SINGAPORE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices were flat on Tuesday as investors waited to see whether the Bank of Japan would shift to more aggressive monetary stimulus at the end of a policy meeting as widely expected, while a tax hike on Indian gold imports had little impact.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold traded unchanged at $1,689.50 an ounce by 0023 GMT.
* U.S. gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,689.60.
* India has raised the import tax on gold by 2 percentage points to 6 percent to curb purchases and rein in a ballooning fiscal deficit, but industry officials expect only a moderate drop in demand.
* The BOJ is set on Tuesday to unveil its most determined effort yet to beat years of economic stagnation, but the big challenge will be how to impress markets already pricing in a doubling of its inflation target and further asset buying.
* Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have scheduled a vote on Wednesday on a nearly four-month extension of U.S. borrowing capacity, but the bill does not specify a dollar amount.
* Commodity fund managers who performed well over the testing final quarter of 2012 believe metal commodity prices could do better than expected in early 2013 due to a combination of Chinese restocking and continued supply disruption.
* In industry news, Gold Fields, the world's fourth-largest bullion producer, will report lower output figures for the October-December quarter, primarily due to illegal strikes at its South African operations, the company said on Monday.
* Spot platinum edged up 0.1 percent to $1,675.74, in a discount to gold for a third straight session after briefly regaining premium last week.
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MARKET NEWS
* European shares inched towards two-year highs on Monday, as the attempt to break the budget impasse in the United States and the expectations of aggressive Japanese stimulus bolstered the appetite for shares.
* The yen's recent violent selloff came to an abrupt halt Tuesday as investors waited for the BOJ decision.
DATA/EVENTS
0300 Japan BOJ rate decision 1000 Germany ZEW economic sentiment Jan 1330 U.S. Chicago Fed National Activity Index 1500 U.S. Existing home sales Dec 1500 U.S. Richmond Fed composite index Jan
PRICES
Precious metals prices 0023 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1689.50 -0.05 -0.00 0.89 Spot Silver 31.99 0.00 +0.00 5.65 Spot Platinum 1675.74 2.25 +0.13 9.17 Spot Palladium 713.97 -1.03 -0.14 3.17 COMEX GOLD FEB3 1689.60 2.60 +0.15 0.82 39963 COMEX SILVER MAR3 32.01 0.08 +0.24 5.89 11350 Euro/Dollar 1.3304 Dollar/Yen 89.57
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Joseph Radford)