Sept 27 (Reuters) - Gold was steady in Asian trade on Tuesday as uncertain equity markets at the start of the first U.S. presidential debate shored up the metal's safe-haven appeal.



FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,337.41 an ounce by 0055 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures eased 0.2 percent to $1,341.60 an ounce.

* Uncertainty gripped Asian markets on Tuesday as investors braced for a potentially pivotal U.S. presidential debate by shunning stocks while favouring safe haven bonds and the yen.

* The first face-off between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton starts at 0100 GMT on Tuesday, with investors looking for indications of who could win the race to lead the world's biggest economy.

* The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1 percent at 95.391.

* New U.S. single-family home sales posted their biggest decline in nearly a year in August after soaring to nine-year highs the month before, with analysts saying the trend in sales remains positive.

* The Federal Reserve will seek significantly more capital from the largest U.S. banks and give some relief to smaller lenders as it updates its annual stress test, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said on Monday.

* The pace at which the Bank of Japan buys bonds will depend on what is needed to achieve its yield curve target but no big increases or decreases were expected for now, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday, dampening speculation that the BOJ was considering tapering asset purchases.

* Economic imbalances within the euro zone risk destabilising the currency bloc, top European Central Bank officials said on Monday, stressing the responsibility of governments to help boost growth while respecting EU rules.

* Russia and Kazakhstan continued to boost their gold reserves in August, data from the International Monetary Fund showed on Monday.

* Yamana Gold clarifies information relating to certain interests in Catamarca province in Argentina. Yamana continues to work with stakeholders to ensure existing mining laws and frameworks for development of mining projects are respected

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or GOL

DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)



0600 Germany Import prices August

1300 U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller housing index July

1345 U.S. Markit services PMI flash September

1400 U.S. Consumer confidence September

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Ed Davies) ((Swati.Verma@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 651 848 5832, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6356/1298 ; Reuters Messaging: swati.verma.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))