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MANILA, July 30 (Reuters) - Gold hovered not far from a 5-1/2-year low early on Thursday after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy and job market continue to strengthen, supporting a possibile interest rate rise when the Fed meets again in September.
Following a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, policymakers said they felt the economy had overcome a first-quarter slowdown and was "expanding moderately" despite a downturn in the energy sector and headwinds from overseas.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold
* U.S. gold for August delivery
* A looming increase in U.S. interest rates, the first since 2006, had weighed on non-interest bearing gold, with some analysts predicting further falls before and after the actual rate hike.
* U.S. economic growth is set to pick up after a lackluster first half, allowing the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in September, according to a Reuters poll published last week.
* The first estimate of second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product will be released later on Thursday. The economy is seen returning to growth, expanding by 2.7 percent, after a contraction in a weather-battered first quarter.
* But contracts to buy previously owned U.S. houses unexpectedly fell in June after five straight months of increase, suggesting some cooling in home resales activity after recent hefty gains.
* Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust
* Kinross Gold Corp
* Gold prices are at risk of falling to as low as $1,050 per ounce, Goldman Sachs global head of commodities research Jeffrey Currie said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, reinforcing the bearish outlook for bullion after last week's rout.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar held steady in cautious trade ahead of U.S. gross domestic product data that could reinforce or dent expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates as early as September. Asian shares were mostly firm.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0755 Germany Unemployment rate July
0900 Euro zone Busines climate July
0900 Euro zone Consumer confidence July
0900 Euro zone Unemployment rate June
1200 Germany Consumer prices July
1230 U.S. GDP advance Q2
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Richard Pullin) ((manolo.serapio@thomsonreuters.com; +632 841 8972; Reuters Messaging: manolo.serapio.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Twitter: @MannySerapio))
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Keywords: MARKETS PRECIOUS/