March 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched lower early Tuesday
amid reports of trade negotiations between the United States and
China, which eased fears of a trade war and improved investors'
appetite for riskier assets.
       
    FUNDAMENTALS  
    * Spot gold        fell 0.1 percent to $1,352.40 per ounce
at 0111 GMT.    
    * U.S. gold futures         for April delivery fell 0.2
percent to $1,352.20 per ounce.
    * Asian share markets rose on Tuesday as optimism set in
amid reports that Chinese and U.S. officials were busy
negotiating to avert a trade war. Against a basket of six other
major currencies, the dollar index        was up 0.1 percent at
89.07.                   
    * Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that China and the U.S.
should maintain negotiations and he reiterated pledges to ease
access for American businesses.             
    * Top Trump administration officials are asking China to cut
tariffs on imported cars, allow foreign majority ownership of
financial services firms and buy more U.S.-made semiconductors
in negotiations to avoid plans to slap tariffs on a host of
Chinese goods.             
    * The United States said on Monday it would expel 60 Russian
diplomats, joining governments across Europe in punishing the
Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in
Britain that they have blamed on Moscow.             
    * China called on World Trade Organization members on Monday
to unite to prevent the United States "wrecking" the WTO, and it
urged them to oppose U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs
targeting China's alleged theft of intellectual property.
            
    * The Federal Reserve should continue raising interest rates
this year and next so that it can avoid an overheating that cuts
short the economic expansion that is already picking up steam, a
policymaker of the U.S. central bank said on Monday.
            
    * International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde
said on Monday euro zone leaders should set up a "rainy day
fund" to help cushion member states in economic downturns.
            
    * SPDR Gold Trust      , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.38 percent to
847.30 tonnes on Monday from 850.54 tonnes on Friday.
            
    * Newcrest Mining         , Australia's largest independent
gold miner, said on Tuesday it will recommence mining operations
at its flagship Cadia mine which was closed following damage to
a tailings dam wall.