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PRECIOUS-Gold falls as ECB comments, US data lift dollar
* ECB pledge, strong U.S. manufacturing data lift dollar
* Outflows from main physical gold fund ease
* Silver near cheapest versus gold in three years (Releads, updates prices, adds comment)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Thursday as the dollar benefited from expectations the Federal Reserve will curb ultra-loose monetary policy before other central banks, given strong U.S. manufacturing data and dovish comments from the European Central Bank.
The U.S. currency rose after ECB President Mario Draghi said euro zone interest rates would remain low for an extended period, and extended gains after data showed the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector hit a two-year high in July.
That helped lift the dollar index from the 6-week low it hit on Wednesday after the Fed gave no sign in a statement that it was set to taper its $85 billion monthly bond-buying measures, though it said its policy remained driven by data.
"It is a question of when, not if, with the Fed, and persistently strong numbers will only add more pressure on the Fed to act, at least to reduce the monthly purchases," Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital said.
"Tapering is still contingent on unemployment figures and other macro readings in the U.S.," he said. "Gold has become sensitive to Fed-related headlines and US macro numbers."
Spot gold was down 0.6 percent at $1,314.80 an ounce at 1444 GMT, well below an earlier session high of $1,330.66. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.1 percent at $1,314.60, off a high of $1,330.70.
A rally in stock markets, with New York's S&P 500 index hitting an all-time high on Thursday, also weighed on the precious metal, analysts said.
"U.S. bond yields and stocks are higher, which is not helping the appetite for alternatives such as gold," Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen said.
ETF HOLDINGS STEADY
On a more positive note for gold, holdings of the world's largest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Shares , were unchanged for a fifth day on Wednesday.
"On balance, no more gold has been withdrawn from the ETFs in the past six days of trading," Commerzbank said in a note. "If the ETF outflows were to come to an end, one key factor weighing on the gold price would be eliminated."
Gold ETFs have recorded outflows of nearly 600 tonnes of metal this year, helping push prices down more than 20 percent.
Physical demand for bullion remained quiet. Shanghai gold futures turned negative after gaining at the open, indicating soft buying in China, the world's second-biggest bullion consumer.
In top buyer India, gold imports have come to a halt due to uncertainty in import policy, keeping premiums high at around $45 an ounce over London prices.
Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.3 percent at $19.74 an ounce. The gold/silver ratio, which measures the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, pared gains after earlier rising towards the previous session's three-year high at 67.2.
Spot platinum was up 0.2 percent at $1,436.24 an ounce, while spot palladium was up 0.4 percent to $728.47 an ounce. (Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; editing by Keiron Henderson and Jane Merriman)
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