Gold hovers near 2-mth high on U.S. data, SPDR inflows

SINGAPORE (Aug 19)  Gold held on to gains from last week to hover near a two-month high on Monday, supported by weak U.S. data and further inflows into the world's biggest bullion-backed exchange traded fund.
   
 FUNDAMENTALS
 * Spot gold had risen 0.07 percent to $1,376.86 an ounce by 0015 GMT, after hitting a two-month peak of $1,379.81
earlier.
 * Bullion climbed the most in five weeks last week, posting a 5-percent gain. Silver gained 14 percent - its biggest
weekly increase in almost five years.
* U.S. consumer sentiment ebbed in August and residential construction rose less than expected last month, potentially dimming hopes of an acceleration in economic activity in the third quarter and increasing gold's safe-haven appeal.
* U.S. bond yields reached two-year highs on Friday as investors worried the Federal Reserve would start scaling back stimulus next month, while world share indexes registered their biggest weekly fall in almost two months.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.26 percent to 915.32 tonnes on Friday. The fund posted a 0.4 percent climb in holdings last week - its first increase in nearly a year.
* Hedge funds and money managers raised net long positions in gold and silver, a report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.