* Gold adds to 1.6 pct gain from previous session * Dollar near 3-week low after Fed minutes (Updates prices) By A. Ananthalakshmi SINGAPORE, Oct 12 Gold jumped to a seven-week high on Monday bolstered by a weaker dollar and expectations the Federal Reserve will not hike U.S. interest rates this year. Spot gold rose 0.8 percent to $ 1,166.26 an ounce by 0651 GMT, after climbing to $ 1,166.60 earlier in the session, its highest since Aug. 24. The dollar was close to a three-week low. The metal gained 1.6 percent in the previous session after minutes from the Fed's September policy meeting showed that the U.S. central bank was deeply cautious about tightening monetary policy. Trading activity during Asian hours was thinner than usual with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday. U.S. markets will also be shut on Monday for a holiday. But investors will be keen on U.S. data on inflation, retail sales and industrial production due later in the week. "We don't expect the U.S. economic data to be very optimistic," said Howie Lee, an analyst at Phillip Futures. "So the dollar could be in for more pain this week. That could push gold higher, even up to $ 1,180," he said. Soft economic data could add to pressure on the Fed to delay the first U.S. rate hike in nearly a decade, following a weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report earlier this month and caution over the global economy. Markets now expect the first U.S. rate hike in nearly a decade in early 2016. A delayed rate rise could support non-interest-paying gold, although uncertainty over the timing could weigh on prices in the near-term. Fed policymakers are still likely to raise rates this year but that is "an expectation, not a commitment", and could change if the global economy pushes the U.S. economy further off course, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said over the weekend. Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish bets in COMEX gold and silver to four-month highs in the week ended Oct. 6, data on Friday showed, amid expectations the Fed will delay a much-anticipated rate hike. Also supporting prices was news from South Africa that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union voted on Sunday to strike at the operations of AngloGold Ashanti , Harmony Gold and Sibanye Gold. Among other precious metals, silver gained nearly 1 percent, while platinum jumped to a one-month high of $ 988.30 an ounce. Palladium was trading close to a near-four-month high of $ 722 reached on Friday. PRICES AT 0651 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg Spot gold 1166.26 9.13 0.79 Spot silver 15.94 0.12 0.76 Spot platinum 983.99 5.49 0.56 Spot palladium 710.5 3 0.42 Comex gold 1166 10.1 0.87 Comex silver 15.955 0.137 0.87 COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing Michael Perry and Biju Dwarakanath)
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