PRECIOUS-Gold steadies after 1 pct drop

SINGAPORE, March 9 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Tuesday after falling 1 percent the previous day as investors disappointed by the metal's failure to hold recent gains ditched their holdings.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,123.45 an ounce by 0035 GMT, up 60 cents from New York's notional close. Bullion was around 1 percent below a 6-1/2-week high near $1,150 an ounce hit in early March.

* U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> barely moved at $1,123.1 an ounce, having ended 1 percent lower on technical selling.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,116.120 tonnes as of March 8, unchanged from the previous business day. [GOL/SPDR]

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. crude futures edged down on Tuesday after hitting an 8-week high above $82 a barrel on Monday, ahead of industry data expected to show another rise in U.S. crude inventories. [O/R]

* The euro eased on Tuesday, while higher-yielding currencies slipped against the dollar and the yen as demand for riskier assets took a breather. The dollar index <.DXY> was up at 80.46, with resistance lurking around its February high of 81.34 and solid support around the 79.55/60 area. [USD/]

* Japan's Nikkei average edged down 0.2 percent on Tuesday after closing at a six-week high the day before, with trading houses such as Mitsui & Co <8031.T> lower after commodity prices fell. [.T]

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Tuesday <ECON>:

Japan Jan leading and coincident indicators (0500 GMT)

ICSC/Goldman Sachs weekly u.s. chain store sales (1245 GMT)

Redbook weekly U.S. retail sales (1355 GMT)

U.S. IBD/TIPP consumer confidence index for March (1500 GMT)

ABC U.S. weekly consumer comfort index (2200 GMT)

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