PRECIOUS-Gold up for third session on weaker dollar

SINGAPORE, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Gold rose for a third session on Friday, eking out a small gain for the week and pulling further away from a three-week trough as a softer U.S. dollar offset fears of a tapering in stimulus measures next month. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,313.25 an ounce by 0029 GMT, after gaining about 2 percent in the previous session. * A gauge of the trend in layoffs of American workers fell last week to its lowest since before the 2007-09 recession, a hopeful sign for the U.S. economy. * The U.S. Federal Reserve will likely begin cutting back on its massive bond-buying program next month, as long as economic data continues to improve, a top Fed official known for his opposition to the program said on Thursday. * In South Africa, production of platinum group metals fell 18.9 percent in June in the world's largest producer of the precious metal, while gold output dropped 14.1 percent due to the lingering effects of labour unrest. * SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said it saw outflows of 1.2 tonnes on Thursday brining total holdings to 909.33 tonnes. * Hecla Mining Co said it has started to hedge its precious metal shipments after a drastic fall in spot prices pushed the company to report a surprise loss. * Commodities and precious metals funds, which mainly invest in gold futures, had outflows of $778.3 million in the latest week, data from Thomson Reuters' Lipper service showed on Thursday. * For the top stories on metals and other news, click , or MARKET NEWS * The dollar licked its wounds on Friday after steep losses over five straight days, holding near a seven-week low against a basket of currencies as risk-seeking investors abandoned the greenback after surprisingly strong trade figures from China. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0130 China CPI yy Jul 0130 China PPI yy Jul 0500 Japan Consumer confid index Jul 0530 China Industrial output Jul 0530 China Retail sales Jul 0530 China Urban investment yy Jul 0645 France Industrial output Jun 1400 U.S. wholesale inventories June 1930 US CFTC commitment of traders data Precious metals prices 0029 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1313.25 1.86 +0.14 -21.58 Spot Silver 20.23 0.03 +0.15 -33.19 Spot Platinum 1488.99 1.99 +0.13 -3.00 Spot Palladium 736.97 0.97 +0.13 6.50 COMEX GOLD DEC3 1312.60 2.70 +0.21 -21.67 1745 COMEX SILVER SEP3 20.22 0.03 +0.13 -33.28 585 Euro/Dollar 1.3375 Dollar/Yen 96.88 COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin)