SINGAPORE, April 2 (Reuters) - Gold prices were little
changed on Monday in the first trading day of the second
quarter, waiting for fresh cues from the currency market as
investors digest data from China and the United States as well
as developments in the euro zone.	
    The dollar index hovered above a near one-month low
hit last Friday after the euro rallied on hopes that Spain could
stick to an austerity plan. 	
    Gold has largely been taking cues from the currency market
in recent weeks in an otherwise listless range play.	
    "There is no fresh topic in the gold market these days,"
said a trader at a large bullion house based in Tokyo.	
    "In the past few months people had focused on the debt
crisis in Europe, now that worry has calmed down despite some
remaining uncertainties and money is flowing back to equities."	
    Gold moved towards $1,700 last week after the U.S. Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted of the possibility of more
pro-growth measures, but momentum faded quickly and prices
dipped to below $1,650.	
    Spot gold was little changed at $1,668.33 an ounce by
0316 GMT, after posting a 6.6-percent rise in the first quarter.
Although prices fell 1.6 percent in March, a second straight
month in the red.	
    COMEX gold futures contract for April delivery edged
down 0.1 percent to $1,670.20 an ounce in thin trading.	
    Bullion prices may end the rebound around a resistance at
$1,677 an ounce and retrace towards $1,645 during the day, said
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. 	
    	
    Traders said gold could stay in a range between $1,640 and
$1,680 in the short term, in absence of any major news.	
    China's manufacturing data over the weekend painted a mixed
picture, showing accelerated activities at big factories but
continued struggles for the smaller ones. 	
    Earlier, U.S. data showed consumer spending increased by the
most in seven months in February as households shook off a rise
in gasoline prices, leading economists to raise forecasts for
first-quarter growth. 	
    Most participants in the physical market remained sidelined.	
    Gold holdings in the world's key gold-backed exchange-traded
funds slipped for a second consecutive week last week.
 	
    "Gold is also lacking sufficient investment enthusiasm to be
able to sideline the physical market as it did earlier in the
year thus, in turn, prices are struggling to gain momentum,"
said Barclays.	
    Buy money managers, including hedge funds and other large
speculators, raised their bullish bets in gold for the first
time in four weeks as the price of bullion rallied to a two-week
high near $1,700 an ounce. 	
    China's financial markets are closed for a public holiday
and will reopen on Thursday.	
    	
   Precious metals prices 0316 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1668.33    0.43   +0.03      6.68
  Spot Silver        32.37    0.16   +0.50     16.90
  Spot Platinum    1640.74   -4.26   -0.26     17.78
  Spot Palladium    652.50    4.42   +0.68      0.00
  COMEX GOLD JUN2  1670.20   -1.70   -0.10      6.60         6702
  COMEX SILVER MAY2  32.38   -0.11   -0.34     15.98         1698
  Euro/Dollar       1.3338
  Dollar/Yen         83.11
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

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