PRECIOUS-Gold ticks higher on softer dollar, mounting virus woes

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched up on Monday helped by a softer dollar and mounting coronavirus cases in the United States that escalated concerns of the pandemic's impact on the pace of economic recovery.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.1% to $1,888.91 per ounce by 0042 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures were up 0.1% at $1,888.30.

* The dollar index was down 0.1%, while Asia's stock markets opened higher on vaccine optimism. [USD/] [MKTS/GLOB]

* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's top advisers called for urgent action to address the nation's "deeply alarming" COVID-19 crisis on Sunday, while the number of infection cases in the United States crossed the 11-million mark.

* U.S. consumer sentiment fell unexpectedly in early November as households worried about their finances, the resurgent pandemic and the depleted fiscal stimulus, dimming the economy's outlook.

* President Donald Trump on Sunday briefly acknowledged losing the U.S. election in a morning Twitter post but then backtracked, saying he concedes "nothing," and vowing to keep up a court fight that election-law experts say is unlikely to succeed.

* Japan's economy grew an annualised 21.4% in the third quarter, data showed on Monday, rebounding sharply from a record postwar slump.

* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.42% to 1,234.32 tonnes on Friday.

* Consumers flocked to jewellery shops again in India last week to snap up Diwali and Dhanteras festival deals, with a retreat in prices also adding to the sparkle in the world's second biggest bullion consumer.

* Silver rose 0.2% to $24.68 per ounce. Platinum was up 0.3% at $891.46, while palladium gained 0.4% to $2,333.01.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0200 China Urban Investment (YTD) YY Oct

0200 China Industrial Output YY

Oct

0200 China Retail Sales YY

Oct

1100 EU

Reserve Assets Total

Oct

Key banking/govt official to speak at the 23rd Euro Finance

Week conference in Frankfurt

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((eileen.soreng@thomsonreuters.com; Within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, Outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6131; Reuters Messaging: eileen.soreng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: GLOBAL PRECIOUS/

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