Gold Ticks Up Before Emergency Euro Conference

(Reuters) - Gold edged up Tuesday as oil and equities gained ahead of emergency talks by the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers, which will discuss the deepening problems in the euro zone that threaten to spur a global economic meltdown.

Bullion rose more than 3 percent last week, when it broke its trend of trading in sync with riskier assets, but it slipped in New York on Monday after declines in U.S. equities forced speculators to cash in the metal to cover losses.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose $1.15 ounce to $1,619.90 an ounce by 0032 GMT. Gold rallied to a record of around $1,920 an ounce in 2011, when investors turned to the metal as a safe haven during the debt crisis in Europe.

* U.S. gold futures for August rose $7.60 an ounce to $1,621.50 an ounce.

* Finance chiefs of the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers will hold emergency talks on the euro zone debt crisis on Tuesday in a sign of heightened global alarm about strains in the 17-nation European currency area.

* France and the European Commission signaled their support on Monday for an ambitious plan to use the euro zone's permanent bailout fund to rescue stricken banks, as European officials try to reassure investors they can contain an escalating crisis.

MARKET NEWS

* Japan's Nikkei share average inched higher in early trade on Tuesday, climbing from the previous session's hefty losses, as investors trimmed bearish bets ahead of emergency talks by the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers.

* U.S. crude prices extended gains to edge above $84 a barrel on Tuesday on hopes that emergency talks by the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers will help ease concerns over Europe's debt crisis.

* New orders for U.S. factory goods fell in April for the third time in four months as demand slipped for everything from cars and machinery to computers, the latest worrisome sign for the economy.

(Reporting by Rujun Shen and Lewa Pardomuan; editing by Miral Fahmy)