Gold holds above $1,300 on Ukraine; fund outflows pose risk

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold held steady just above $1,300 an ounce on Thursday supported by tensions in Ukraine, but the metal was at the risk of adding to recent losses as the world's biggest gold-backed fund saw its sharpest outflow in nearly four months.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,302.20 an ounce by 0022 GMT, after closing flat on Wednesday.

* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust fell 8.39 tonnes to 798.43 tonnes on Wednesday - the biggest outflow since Dec. 23, indicating waning investor interest.

* Gold fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, on technical selling and growing fears about slowing demand in top consumer China.

* Heightened geopolitical tensions in Ukraine kept the metal supported near $1,300 after the fall. Separatists flew the Russian flag on armoured vehicles taken from the Ukrainian army, humiliating a Kiev government operation to recapture eastern towns controlled by pro-Moscow partisans.

* Canada's Osisko Mining Corp reached a C$3.9 billion ($3.6 billion) deal to sell most of its assets to Yamana Gold Inc and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd as it battles to thwart a hostile takeover bid from Goldcorp Inc, one of the world's biggest gold miners.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi)