Gold up on softer dollar

SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters): Gold edged higher for a second straight session on Thursday, helped by a weaker dollar and as minutes of the Federal Reserve's recent policy meet gave no indication of an early hike in US interest rates.

Markets were also eyeing developments in the second-biggest consumer India, where the new government is expected to cut a record high import duty on gold at the budget to be presented today.

Spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to $1,327.05 an ounce by 0018 GMT, after gaining 0.5 per cent in the previous session.

The Fed has begun detailing how it plans to ease the US  economy out of an era of loose monetary policy, indicating it will end its asset purchases in October and appearing near agreement on a plan to manage interest rates in the future, according to minutes of the June policy meeting.

Gold had been under pressure since last Thursday when a strong US jobs report stoked speculation that the Fed could increase rates sooner than expected. A hike would encourage investors to withdraw money from non-interest-bearing assets such as gold.

India is likely to cut its gold import duty to 6 per cent from a record 10 per cent in Thursday's budget, leading to a rise in imports in the second half, a senior official at the country's biggest gold trade group said.

Any jump in imports from India would likely underpin gold prices.