SINGAPORE, Nov 30 - Gold traded flat on Friday as uncertainty surrounding the U.S. budget talks kept sentiment muted, while bullion was on track for a 1.6-percent weekly decline - its biggest in four weeks.
   
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold traded little changed at $1,724.56 an ounce by 0027 GMT, headed for a 0.3 percent monthly rise.
   
* U.S. gold inched down 0.1 percent to $1,724.90.
   
* House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday that "fiscal cliff" talks with the White House had made no substantive progress and criticized President Barack Obama and Democrats for failing to get serious about including spending cuts in a final deal.
   
* Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of palladium and nickel, expects the palladium market to remain in a deficit in the next several years largely due to a near depletion of
Russian state supplies.
   
* Silver prices could revisit record highs next year, but any gains will depend heavily on a rally in gold fuelling investment as silver struggles to overcome a soft outlook for supply and demand, metals consultancy GFMS said on Thursday.
 
* Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd, the world's biggest jewellery retailer by market value, said on Thursday it is targeting e-commerce as a pillar of future growth after online sales tripled in the first half.
 
* Shanghai Gold Exchange said it will start a trial run of over-the-counter gold trading on the China Foreign Exchange Trading System on Dec. 3, allowing banks to trade amongst themselves and in large volumes.
   
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MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks finished higher on Thursday as investors bought on sporadic dips in a market roiled by conflicting comments from Washington about negotiations on an agreement to avoid the "fiscal cliff."
   
* The euro traded little changed on Friday, after retreating from a one-month high against the dollar in the previous session after Boehner dented hopes for a budget deal.
   
    DATA/EVENTS
 0500 Japan      Construction orders Oct                    
 0530 India      GDP Q2                                     
 0700 Germany    Retail sales Oct                           
 0745 France     Consumer spending Oct                      
 0900 Italy      Unemployment rate Oct                      
 1000 Euro zone  Inflation Nov                              
 1100 Brazil     GDP Q3                                     
 1445 U.S.       Chicago PMI Nov                            
 1930 U.S.       CFTC commitment of traders data           
   
    PRICES  
 Precious metals prices 0027 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1724.56   -0.23   -0.01     10.28
  Spot Silver        34.17   -0.04   -0.12     23.40
  Spot Platinum    1606.00   -2.49   -0.15     15.29
  Spot Palladium    678.90   -2.82   -0.41      4.05
  COMEX GOLD DEC2  1724.90   -2.30   -0.13     10.09           30
  COMEX SILVER DEC2  34.19   -0.16   -0.46     22.48           40
  Euro/Dollar       1.2971
  Dollar/Yen         82.04
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months