SINGAPORE, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Thursday after a sharp drop in prices in the previous session as investors ditched safe-haven assets, while a margin hike in COMEX gold may further weigh on sentiment.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold traded little changed at $1,748.99 an ounce by 2357 GMT, after posting its worst daily decline since December 2008 with a 4.3-percent drop on Wednesday.
* U.S. gold
* Amid market turbulence, the CME Group raised margin requirement on COMEX gold futures by 27 percent, the biggest hike in more than two and a half years and the second increase in the month.
* New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose in July, offering hope the ailing economy could dodge a second recession even though a gauge of business spending fell and encouraging risk appetite in the financial market.
* Government bonds also fell sharply, together with gold, as investors withdrew from a broad range of safe-haven assets, while global stock markets posted solid gains for a second day on Wednesday.
* SPDR Gold Trust said on Wednesday its holdings fell 2.2 pct, in its biggest one-day drop in seven months.
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MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks posted strong gains for a second day on Wednesday as investors jumped back into beaten-down financial shares and backed away from safer assets like gold in volatile trading.
* The dollar index held steady on Thursday, after rising against major currencies in the previous session, as investors await signal on stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at Friday's Jackson Hole meeting.
DATA/EVENTS 1230 U.S. Initial jobless claims Weekly
PRICES Precious metals prices 2357 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1748.99 -1.56 -0.09 23.22 Spot Silver 39.64 0.01 +0.03 28.45 Spot Platinum 1807.49 5.29 +0.29 2.26 Spot Palladium 745.49 1.69 +0.23 -6.76 TOCOM Gold 4370.00 -175.00 -3.85 17.19 61117 TOCOM Platinum 4534.00 -105.00 -2.26 -3.45 3476 TOCOM Silver 97.50 -5.20 -5.06 20.37 493 TOCOM Palladium 1856.00 -26.00 -1.38 -11.49 92 COMEX GOLD DEC1 1753.00 -4.30 -0.24 23.33 9558 COMEX SILVER SEP1 39.70 0.54 +1.37 28.31 2438 Euro/Dollar 1.4405 Dollar/Yen 77.01 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)