PRECIOUS-Gold hovers near 5-month high on stimulus hopes

SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near a five-month
peak on Monday, supported by hopes for more stimulus measures
after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a grave
assessment of the economy last week.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold had edged down 0.3 percent to $1,686.43
an ounce by 0016 GMT, easing from a five-month high of $1,692.71
hit on Friday.
* U.S. gold was little changed at $1,689.
* Bernanke on Friday left the door wide open to a further
easing of monetary policy, saying the stagnation in the U.S.
labour market was a "grave concern," but he stopped short of
providing a clear signal of imminent action. Bullion is seen as
a hedge against inflation.
* Hedge fund and money managers boosted their net long
positions in U.S. gold futures and options to the highest level
in more than five months in the week ending Aug.28, as gold
broke above a long-held range on hopes for more stimulus
measures.
* China's official factory purchasing managers' index
fell to a lower-than-expected 49.2 in August from
50.1 in July, official data showed on Saturday, a result that is
likely to strengthen the case for further policy steps to
bolster growth.
* Euro zone inflation jumped more than expected in August,
data showed on Friday, likely reducing chances that the European
Central Bank will cut interest rates next Thursday.

* Talks to end a deadly strike at the South African mining
operations of world No. 3 platinum producer Lonmin
resume on Monday after weekend funerals for over 30
workers killed by police.
* Spot platinum gained 0.4 percent to $1,535.49,
after falling 0.8 percent last week.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click
, or

MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks rose on Friday after Bernanke's comments.
* The euro and commodity currencies started the new week on
the defensive, with the Australian dollar slipping to a fresh
five-week low as the market reacted in dismay to more signs of
weakness in the Chinese economy.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0230 China HSBC Mfg PMI Final Aug
0500 India HSBC Markit Mfg PMI Aug
0743 Italy Markit/ADACI Mfg PMI Aug
0753 Germany Markit/BME Mfg PMI Aug
0758 EZ Markit Mfg PMI Aug

PRICES

Precious metals prices 0016 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1686.43 -4.21 -0.25 7.84
Spot Silver 31.53 -0.17 -0.54 13.87
Spot Platinum 1535.49 6.29 +0.41 10.23
Spot Palladium 625.97 10.67 +1.73 -4.07
COMEX GOLD DEC2 1689.00 1.40 +0.08 7.80 2871
COMEX SILVER DEC2 31.58 0.13 +0.42 13.11 832
Euro/Dollar 1.2570
Dollar/Yen 78.27
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Joseph Radford)