By Matt Whittaker Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures are steady Wednesday after a sharp selloff the previous session, but the metal remains under pressure as investors don't see the same need for a haven that they did last month. The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, recently was up $1.80, or 0.2%, at $1,163.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. "Gold was the hot thing all spring and early summer," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist with Lind-Waldock in Chicago. "Now it's like the stepchild." The metal hasn't been helped much by a weakening U.S. dollar--which often lifts dollar-denominated gold by making it less expensive for buyers using other currencies--as equities have been ascendant while a measure of calm has returned to markets. "People are more inclined to put their risk into equities," Haberkorn said. "It's kind of left gold by the wayside." Market fears about the European debt crisis, a possible economic pullback in the U.S. and potentially slowing growth in China had pushed gold to a record above $1,260 an ounce last month. But those concerns have ebbed amid some promising economic data and after European banks mostly passed recent stress tests, returning some faith to the battered sector. As gold prices rose to records in the second quarter, mining companies upped their production of the metal. U.S. gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) said Wednesday its second-quarter profit more than doubled but fell shy of analysts' expectations, as higher prices and production of gold and copper fed revenue. Gold production rose 12% as the average realized price increased 31% and cost per ounce rose 16%. Meanwhile, Australian miner Lihir Gold Ltd. (LGL.AU), said Wednesday that second quarter production was in line with its guidance at 244,000 troy ounces, a 6% rise on the previous quarter. -By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2139; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com

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