Gold hits session low as euro pares gains

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Gold extended its slide on Tuesday, putting it on track for a third successive daily loss, as the euro pared gains versus the dollar as investors fretted about the unfolding Irish debt crisis.

Spot gold <XAU=> fell by as much as 0.6 percent to hit an intraday low at $1,351.70 an ounce, its lowest in two weeks, before recovering to trade at $1,353.20 by 1424 GMT, still showing a 0.5 percent drop on the day.

The euro <EUR=> pared gains to trade flat against the dollar, having earlier risen to a session high of $1,3654 as pressure increased on Ireland to request aid over its debt crunch in what the European Council's president called a "survival crisis" for the single currency bloc and the wider European Union. [ID:nLDE6AE2AI]

Gold, which trades usually inversely to the U.S. dollar, has been caught up in a broad commodities sell-off which has offset any lift it might have otherwise received from investors seeking an alterntive to increasingly volatile currencies, stocks and bonds.

(Reporting by Amanda Cooper)