2014.04.2205:25:13UTC+00Gold prolongs losings on additional fund outflows

Gold stretched its losses into a fourth session on Tuesday and glided close to its lowest in 2-1/2 weeks on additional outflows from bullion-supported funds and firmer equities.

Geopolitical upheavals in Ukraine failed to boost gold's safe-haven appeal, underpinning bearish sentiment in the market.

Spot gold plunged 0.2% to $1,286.65 per ounce. The metal dived to $1,281.40 the day before, its lowest since April 3.

A World Gold Council report last week said up to 1,000 tons of gold could be held in Chinese financing deals, signaling a huge slice of imports was used to increase funds because of tight credit conditions, rather than to comply consumer demand.

The financing-related buying in the world's leading gold consumer means prices could come under pressure if imports are affected by a wider crackdown on using commodities for finance. In investment side, SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-supported exchange-traded fund, listed another plunge in holdings on Monday. Holdings dropped 3 tons, to end at 792.14 tons.

Last week, outpours from the fund, closely monitored due to its holdings size, totaled 9.3 tons, wiping out all the profits made in the year.