PRECIOUS-Gold extends gains after Fed's Powell hints at rate cut

* Gold on track for third straight session of gains
* Palladium rises above $1,600/oz to 16-week high
* Market awaits U.S. CPI data at 1230 GMT

(Updates prices, add comments)
By Swati Verma
July 11 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose to a one-week high on
Thursday, extending gains from the previous session after U.S.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's dovish remarks
bolstered expectations of an interest rate cut this month.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.1% to $1,419.64 per ounce at 1148
GMT, after earlier hitting its highest since July 3 at $1,426.
The metal gained 1.5% in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 jumped 0.6% to $1,421.60 an ounce.
"Powell's testimony last night is giving gold a significant
lift, with the market taking an indication that there is going
to be a rate cut of 25 basis points coming soon," said Ross
Norman, chief executive at bullion dealer Sharps Pixley.
In his testimony to Congress, Powell pointed to broad global
weakness clouding the U.S. economic outlook amid uncertainty on
the fallout from the Trump administration's trade conflict with
China and other nations. Echoing the dovish sentiment, the minutes from Fed's June
policy meeting showed many policymakers thought more stimulus
would be needed soon, reinforcing the case for a U.S. interest
rate cut in July. Attention is now turning to U.S. CPI data at 1230 GMT.
The U.S. Treasury yield curve steepened and the dollar
.DXY came off three-week highs following the congressional
testimony, further supporting bullion. USD/ US/
"The bonds market has been indicating for a while now that
the global economic backdrop is darkening. The mood in gold is
pretty upbeat on the basis of that," Norman added.
"During the bull run from $1,280, gold has had relatively
few pauses and dips have been pretty shallow, indicating that
underlying sentiment remains very, very positive."
Gold rallied to a six-year peak of $1,438.63 an ounce last
month, largely on the back of expectations of rate cuts by key
central banks amid concerns over the global economy.
"A break above $1,438 may lead to further buying orders with
$1,500 being the next level traders looking to target," Hussein
Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, wrote in a note.
Mirroring gains seen in gold, silver XAG= rose 0.1% to
$15.26 per ounce and platinum XPT= rose 0.4% to $827.76.
Palladium XPD= , meanwhile, fell 0.5% to $1,581, after
hitting its highest since March 22 at $1,605.52.
"Besides being supported by firm base metals, palladium and
platinum may have profited from concerns about a possible strike
in the South African platinum mining industry," Commerzbank
wrote in a note.
The world's top platinum miners kicked off talks with South
Africa's unions on Tuesday, with negotiations on wages expected
to be tough.