PRECIOUS-Gold recoups some losses on dollar weakness, hopes of less hawkish Fed

    * China Construction Bank to halt some gold, silver trading
from
Aug. 15
    * ECB, Fed policy meetings in focus

 (Updates prices, adds details)
    By Arundhati Sarkar
    July 18 (Reuters) - Gold recovered some of its recent losses
on Monday, helped by a pullback in the dollar and easing fears
about an oversized rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. 
    Spot gold        was up 0.3% at $1,712.49 per ounce by 1242
GMT, after rising 1% earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures
       rose 0.4% to $1,711.00. Last week bullion hit its lowest
in nearly a year.
    The dollar index        was off its near 20-year high, down
0.5%, making greenback-priced gold less expensive for buyers
holding other currencies.       
    "Markets are paring back the odds of a 100-basis point Fed
rate hike at its July policy meeting, which is translating into
some measure of relief for bullion," said Han Tan, chief market
analyst at Exinity.
    U.S. consumers tempered their inflation expectations in July
alongside a sharp drop in gasoline prices over the past month, a
development likely to be welcomed by Federal Reserve officials
worried that expectations for high inflation could become
embedded and complicate their task of reining in price
increases.             
    Fed's aggressive inflation-fighting policy has dented
bullion's safe-haven appeal, as rising interest rates make the
non-interest bearing asset seem less attractive.
    "However, with a 75-basis point move now looking more
likely, the U.S. dollar has weakened slightly from the record it
hit last week, providing relief across equity and commodity
markets," said Rupert Rowling, market analyst at Kinesis Money.
    Fed officials signalled on Friday that they would stick to a
75-bp rate increase at their July 26-27 meeting.              
    Focus also remains on the European Central Bank's meeting
later this week where it is expected to raise rates by 25 bps.
            
    Meanwhile, China Construction Bank Corp said it would
suspend some types of trading in gold and silver for clients,
starting 7 a.m. on Aug. 15.             
    Spot silver        rose 0.7% to $18.83 per ounce, platinum
       jumped 0.9% to $857.75, while palladium        gained
2.3% to $1,870.26.

 (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich, Shailesh Kuber and Vinay Dwivedi)