Gold ticks lower, U.S. dollar holds near peak

Singapore (Mar 24)  Gold edged lower on Monday after posting its biggest weekly drop since November on the prospect of a U.S. interest rate hike in early 2015, denting the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation.
   
 FUNDAMENTALS
    * Spot gold eased $2.25 an ounce to $1,331.69 by 0026 GMT.     
    * U.S. gold was at $1,332.60 an ounce, down $3.40. 
    * Palladium added $2.72 an ounce to $791.72. It
rallied to $797.00 on Friday, its highest since August 2011, on
a miners' strike in South Africa and concerns the standoff
between major producer Russia and the West over Crimea could
escalate.
     * NATO's top military commander said on Sunday that Russia
had built up a "very sizeable" force on its border with Ukraine
and Moscow may have Moldova, another ex-Soviet republic, in its
sights after annexing Crimea.
    * SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.52 percent to
816.97 tonnes on Friday from 812.78 tonnes on Thursday.

    * Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish bets
in gold futures and options to the highest level since December
2012, as worries about tensions in Ukraine and China's economy
boosted speculative interest for a sixth straight week,
according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
on Friday.
    MARKET NEWS
    * Asian shares lurched lower in a cautious start to the week
on Monday, as investors were hobbled by the persistent tensions
in Ukraine, uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy and worries
about slowing growth in China.
    * The dollar index stood at 80.130 on Monday, little
changed from late New York levels on Friday, but still not far
off a three-week peak of 80.354 set on Thursday