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Gold prices were flat in early Asian trading on Tuesday as markets await U.S. inflation data that could offer more clarity on the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold held its ground at $1,948.09 per ounce, as of 0118 GMT. U.S. gold futures edged 0.1% higher to $1,952.30.
* U.S. consumer prices index (CPI) data will be released on Tuesday. Wall Street economists expect the headline U.S. CPI to have slowed to a 0.1% rise in October, from a 0.4% increase in September, according to a Reuters poll.
* The core inflation number is expected at 0.3% last month, unchanged from September. Also on the radar, the U.S. producer price index data due on Wednesday.
* U.S. Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, last week said they are still not sure interest rates are high enough to finish the battle with inflation.
* The market is pricing in an 86% chance that the Fed will leave rates unchanged in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
* The expected path for inflation softened on balance in October amid rising expectations for future gasoline price hikes and a largely stable outlook for employment and personal finances, the Fed Bank of New York reported on Monday.
* Meanwhile, COMEX gold speculators lowered their net long position by 1,107 contracts to 105,236 in week ended Nov. 7, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Monday.
* Spot silver rose 0.4% to $22.38 per ounce, while platinum gained 0.5% to $868.49. Palladium climbed about 1% to $990.81 per ounce.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)