SINGAPORE, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gold was little changed on
Tuesday, as the uncertainty in the U.S. budget talks kept
investors cautious, offsetting the upbeat sentiment after Greece
and Spain made some progress in solving their debt crisis.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold traded nearly flat at $1,715.14 an ounce
by 0031 GMT.
* U.S. gold inched down 0.3 percent to $1,715.90.
* Republicans proposed steep spending cuts on Monday but
gave no ground on President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes
on the wealthiest in their first formal proposal to avert a
"fiscal cliff" that could push the U.S. economy into recession.
* Greece said it would spend 10 billion euros to buy back
bonds at a price range that topped market expectations, boosting
hopes it can cut its ballooning debt and unlock long-delayed
aid.
* Spain on Monday made a formal request for an aid of 39.5
billion euros ($51.4 billion) of European funds to recapitalise
its crippled banking sector.
* Chinese manufacturing output grew last month for the first
time in more than a year but a surprise contraction in U.S.
factory activity tempered optimism about the health of the world
economy.
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained at a record high
level of 1,348.826 tonnes.
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MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks struggled to extend the previous week's gains,
dropping on Monday as disappointing U.S. factory numbers
dampened optimism about China's economic growth.
* The euro rose slightly in early Asian trading on Tuesday,
moving back towards a six-week high against the dollar and a
seven-month high against the yen marked a day earlier on upbeat
news from Spain and Greece.
DATA/EVENTS
0330 Australia RBA cash rate Dec
1000 Euro zone Producer prices Oct
1100 Brazil Industrial output Oct
1245 U.S. ICSC weekly chain store sales
1355 U.S. Redbook weekly retail sales
1445 U.S. ISM-New York index Nov
PRICES
Precious metals prices 0031 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1715.14 0.29 +0.02 9.68
Spot Silver 33.57 -0.04 -0.12 21.24
Spot Platinum 1601.50 0.75 +0.05 14.97
Spot Palladium 685.72 -0.08 -0.01 5.09
COMEX GOLD DEC2 1715.90 -5.20 -0.30 9.52 1733
COMEX SILVER MAR3 33.66 -0.10 -0.31 20.56 317
Euro/Dollar 1.3050
Dollar/Yen 82.15
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Eric Meijer)