SINGAPORE, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Gold languished near a four-week low on Thursday, retaining losses from its biggest drop in nearly two months overnight, as higher equities and uncertainty over the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike weighed.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,106.60 an ounce by 0031 GMT, after dropping 1.4 percent in the previous session - its biggest daily drop since July 20. The metal slid to $1,101.11 on Wednesday, its lowest since Aug. 11.

* U.S. gold GCcv1 was up 0.4 percent at $1,105.90, largely holding on to a 1.7 percent drop overnight.

* Stocks on European and major Asian bourses ended higher on Wednesday, although U.S. equities fell. The dollar rose, riding a global equities rally that helped reassure investors along with signs that governments in China and Japan were readying fresh economic stimulus. MKTS/GLOB

* A rally in equities reduced demand for gold as a safe-haven, while a stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

* Traders were also awaiting the U.S. central bank's next policy statement on Sept. 17 for clues on the timing of a U.S. interest rate rise.

* Gold has benefited in recent years from ultra-low rates, which cut the opportunity cost of holding bullion while holding the dollar in check. Expectations that rates will rise soon have helped push the metal down 5 percent this year.

* Economic data on Wednesday showed U.S. job openings surged to a record high in July and employers appeared to have trouble filling openings, the latest signal of an increasingly tight labour market that could push the Federal Reserve closer to raising interest rates. ID:nL1N11F1E7

* Investor interest in the metal has been tepid. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.61 percent to 678.18 tonnes on Wednesday - the biggest drop since Aug. 12. GOL/ETF

* India will soon launch a sovereign gold bond and a scheme to mobilise tonnes of the metal stored in households, the finance minister said, a move that mainly seeks to wean investors away from physical gold and cut massive imports. ID:nL4N11F3BO

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

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0130 China Consumer prices Aug

0130 China Producer prices Aug

0645 France Industrial output Jul

1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims

1230 U.S. Import prices Aug

1230 U.S. Export prices Aug

1400 U.S. Wholesale inventories Jul

PRICES AT 0031 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg

Spot gold 1106.6 0.9 0.08 Spot silver 14.565 -0.045 -0.31 Spot platinum 977.2 -3.8 -0.39 Spot palladium 574 -5.3 -0.91 Comex gold 1105.9 3.9 0.35 Comex silver 14.575 -0.001 -0.01 Euro 1.1235 DXY 95.788

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Richard Pullin) ((ananthalakshmi.as@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3726; Reuters Messaging: ananthalakshmi.as.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; Twitter: @AnanthalakshmiA))

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