WRAPUP 2-India buys half of IMF's gold for sale; who's next?

* IMF sells 200 tonnes of gold to Reserve Bank of India

* Sale is part of total of 403.3 tonnes to be sold by IMF

* Gold price reverses earlier gains, flat near $1,058

* Relieves bearish risk of open-market bullion sale

* Is China next? (Updates prices para 6, analyst comments in paras 7-8, 12)

By Surojit Gupta and Lesley Wroughton

MUMBAI/WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.7 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that has threatened to slow gold's ascent.

The deal, which surprised traders who expected China to be the most likely buyer, will relieve the gold market of some uncertainty over how and when the IMF would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock. The deal will increase India's gold holdings to the tenth largest among central banks.

It also fuelled speculation that other governments -- including Beijing -- may be ready to diversify their reserves even at near-record gold prices, helping soak up IMF supply that the fund may otherwise be forced to sell on the open market.