Gold edges up as stocks retreat oil strugg

MANILA: Gold edged higher on Wednesday as a further fall in equities and oil burnished bullion’s safe-haven draw, although the metal was restricted to narrow ranges.FUNDAMENTALS* Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,088.66 an ounce by 0035 GMT. The metal, while supported by a weaker appetite for risky assets, has faced resistance at around $1,090 with some analysts attributing this to slow Asian physical demand.* U.S. gold for February delivery was flat at $1,088.70 an ounce.* The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecasts for the third time in less than a year, as new figures from Beijing showed that the Chinese economy grew at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century in 2015.* Confidence about near-term sales growth among chief executives around the world has fallen to its lowest level in six years as China’s economic engine slows and a slump in oil prices signals deep unease about the global outlook.* The U.S. Mint cut its weekly allocation of American Eagle silver bullion coins to 1 million ounces, just a quarter of the 4 million ounces that were rationed and sold last week.MARKET NEWS* Asian shares slipped as a relentless slide in oil prices wiped out an attempted rally on Wall Street and dealt a fresh blow to risk appetite.* U.S. crude fell to a new low since 2003 at under $28 a barrel after the world’s energy watchdog warned the market could “drown in oversupply”.