Aug 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices firmed above recent lows on Tuesday, with the non-yielding asset holding ground despite U.S. Treasury yields powering to nearly 16-year highs as investors look ahead to central bankers' meeting this week for clues on interest rates.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold held its ground at $1,894.91 per ounce by 0117 GMT, hovering above a five-month low of $1,883.70 hit last week. U.S. gold futures added 0.1% to $1,923.90.
* Gold on Monday settled about 0.3% higher, reporting its best day in more than two weeks after five consecutive sessions of losses.
* The yield on 10-year Treasury notes hit highs last seen during the Great Financial Crisis in November 2007 as a resilient U.S. economy boosted view the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.
* For an outlook on interest rates, comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday will be monitored at a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Higher rates increase bond yields, making non-yielding bullion less attractive.
* American workers' expectations for pay surged in July, even as those same workers foresee a modestly less robust job market, said a survey released Monday by the New York Fed.
* Cracks are forming in a global stocks rally, with surging bond yields, rising energy prices and intensified worries over China's economy among the factors sapping investors' risk appetite following months of gains in equity markets.
* Receding fears of a U.S. slowdown and surging bond yields have gradually eroded the appeal of exchange-traded funds (ETF) backed by traditional safe-haven gold this year, despite sticky inflation.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, said its holdings fell 0.10% on Monday.
* In other metals, spot silver fell 0.2% to $23.30 per ounce and platinum was up 0.1% at $909.72. Palladium steadied at $1,245.53.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 1400 US Existing Home Sales July (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
