Gold on track for biggest annual loss since 1981

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.37 percent to 798.22 tonnes on Monday from 801.22 tonnes on Friday. In terms of ounces, holdings fell to 25,663,578.79 from 25,760,019.68, their lowest since 2009.

* China's net gold imports from Hong Kong fell 42 percent to below 100 tonnes in November, reflecting a drop in demand from jewellers and retail investors after strong purchases in recent months.

* Hedge funds and money managers raised their net long position in copper futures and options for a second straight week and cut their bullish bets in gold and silver in the week to December 24, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Monday.

* Indian gold futures dropped on Monday tracking global prices, which fell on expectations that an improvement in the U.S. economy would lower demand for the yellow metal.

MARKET NEWS

* Global stocks are closing out 2013 sitting on sizable gains courtesy of super-easy monetary policies and an improving economic outlook, though some emerging markets have less to crow about as funds return to rich-world assets.

* Crude oil futures tumbled on both sides of the Atlantic on Monday on early signals that oil output in Libya may be starting to recover and concerns over a buildup in local government debt in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer.