BENGALURU, May 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday, as the dollar held on to gains from the previous session after a Federal Reserve official backed the case for further interest rate hikes in the United States. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,314.24 per ounce at 0056 GMT. * U.S. gold futures for June delivery were, however, down 0.3 percent at $1,314.10 per ounce. * The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was steady at 92.631. * The Fed should continue its gradual approach to raising interest rates given that inflation has not yet reached the U.S. central bank's 2 percent goal in a sustained way, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Monday. * The U.S. yield curve could invert later this year or early 2019, St. Louis Federal Reserve James Bullard said on Monday, in a market move in which short-term U.S. interest rates rise above longer-term bond yields, a scenario which has preceded recent U.S. recessions. * Three European Central Bank policymakers stuck with an upbeat assessment of the euro zone economy on Monday, shrugging off signs of a slowdown in inflation and activity. * Asia stocks pulled back on Tuesday, after an uninspiring performance on Wall Street eclipsed support from U.S.-China trade optimism, while supply concerns kept crude oil prices near 3-1/2-year highs. * Israeli troops shot dead dozens of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border on Monday when the high-profile opening of the U.S. embassy to Israel in Jerusalem by the Trump administration raised tension to boiling point after weeks of demonstrations. * President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to revisit penalties for Chinese company ZTE Corp for flouting U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, saying the telecom maker is a big buyer for U.S. suppliers. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.17 percent to 856.17 tonnes on Monday. * Shanta Gold will conduct further exploration near its main mine in Tanzania after cutting costs in the past year to cope with tougher mining laws, the chief executive told Reuters. * CI Investments Inc sharply decreased its holdings in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund during the first quarter of 2018, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filing showed on Monday. DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT) 1230 U.S. Import prices Apr 1230 U.S. Export prices Apr 1400 U.S. University of Michigan sentiment index May (Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)