Gold slips to near seven-week low as dollar firms

COMMODITY OPENING BELL

Bullion - Opens on negative Note Gold -29360-29400 Silver -39275-39300 

Energy - Opens on negative Note Crude Oil -3320-3330 Natural Gas -193-195 

Base Metals - Opens on mixed Note Copper -426-426.50 Nickel -685-690 Lead -165-165.50 Zinc - 211-212 Aluminium -137.30-137.60

Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,269.50 an ounce by 0101 GMT, after earlier touching its lowest since mid- August at $1,268.60.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery shed 0.3 percent to $1,272.50 per ounce.

* The dollar on Tuesday gained 0.3 percent against a basket of major currencies and was up 0.2 percent versus the yen <JPY=>.

* A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity surged to a near 13-1/2-year high in September as disruptions to the supply chains caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma resulted in factories taking longer to deliver goods and boosted raw material prices.

* The White House on Monday ruled out talks with North Korea except to discuss the fate of Americans held there, again appearing to rebuke Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who said Washington was directly communicating with Pyongyang on its nuclear and missile programmes.