MANILA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Gold steadied near a 1-1/2-week peak at just below $1,100 an ounce early on Monday, with investors eyeing whether equities will come under renewed pressure and refresh safe-haven demand for bullion.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,098.41 an ounce by 0044 GMT, after gaining around 0.9 percent last week.

* The precious metal had benefitted from investor aversion towards risky assets that has hit global stocks and crude oil. It peaked at $1,109.20 last week, its loftiest since Jan. 8.

* U.S. gold for February delivery GCcv1 gained 0.2 percent to $1,098.50 an ounce.

* Hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets in COMEX gold in the week to Jan. 19, and also boosted their bullish bets in silver to the highest in more than two months, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N15621K

* SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose to 664.17 tonnes on Friday from 662.09 tonnes on Thursday. GOL/ETF

* U.S. home resales rebounded strongly in December from a 19-month low and prices surged, indicating the housing market recovery remained intact despite signs of a sharp deceleration in economic growth in recent months. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N15615S

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

MARKET NEWS

* Asian stocks edged higher, with investors relieved after seeing Wall Street rally on Friday on the back of a sharp rise in crude oil prices. MKTS/GLOB

* The dollar weakened but remained well off recent lows as markets started the week on a calmer note, and investors turned their attention to upcoming central bank meetings. USD/

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0900 Germany Ifo business climate Jan

0900 Italy Industrial orders Nov

1530 U.S. Dallas Fed manufacturing index Jan

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Joseph Radford) ((manolo.serapio@thomsonreuters.com; +632 841 8972; Reuters Messaging: manolo.serapio.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Twitter: @MannySerapio))

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