PRECIOUS-Gold steady as investors shift focus to G20

SINGAPORE, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Spot gold prices held steady
on Monday, after staging its biggest weekly rise in two months
on a plan to contain the euro zone's debt crisis, while
investors are awaiting a key Group of 20 meeting later this week
for further trading cues.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,741.34 an
ounce by 0033 GMT, headed for a monthly gain of more than 7
percent, after dropping nearly 11 percent in the previous month.

* U.S. gold GCcv1 inched down 0.2 percent to $1,743.50, on
course for a 7.5-percent monthly rise.

* After a European Union summit last week came up with a
plan to tackle its debt crisis, investors will focus on a G20
summit this week, which will be watched for coordinated efforts
or pledges to help stabilise world financial markets.

* U.S. consumer sentiment improved in October for the second
month in a row as consumers felt more upbeat about the economy's
prospects, a survey released on Friday showed.

* Money managers, including hedge funds and other large
speculators, raised their bullish bets in gold futures and
options to the highest in four weeks, as the price of bullion
rose to a one-month high above $1,700 an ounce.

* Spot silver gained 0.2 percent to $35.29, on course
for a rise of 18 percent from a month earlier, its biggest
monthly climb since April.

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
, or

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks closed out a fourth week of gains in quiet
fashion on Friday, edging higher as the market took a breather
after rallying 3 percent on Europe's deal to stem its debt
crisis.

* The dollar edged to a fresh record low against the yen
early in Asia on Monday as stops were triggered in very thin
trade, keeping alive the threat of intervention from Japanese
authorities.

DATA/EVENTS

0500 Japan Construction orders yy Sep
0600 Germany Retail sales yy real Sep
0900 EZ Inflation, flash yy Oct
1345 U.S. Chicago PMI Oct

PRICES

Precious metals prices 0033 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1741.34 1.90 +0.11 22.68
Spot Silver 35.29 0.06 +0.17 14.36
Spot Platinum 1630.99 -12.45 -0.76 -7.72
Spot Palladium 658.49 -5.51 -0.83 -17.64
TOCOM Gold 4244.00 -1.00 -0.02 13.81 24917
TOCOM Platinum 4000.00 -34.00 -0.84 -14.82 7620
TOCOM Silver 85.40 -0.20 -0.23 5.43 345
TOCOM Palladium 1620.00 -22.00 -1.34 -22.75 155
COMEX GOLD DEC1 1743.50 -3.70 -0.21 22.66 2048
COMEX SILVER DEC1 35.33 0.04 +0.12 14.19 507
Euro/Dollar 1.4139
Dollar/Yen 75.68
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)