PRECIOUS-Gold falls over 1% as Brexit, Sino-U.S. trade worries ease

(Updates prices)
* Gold down 1.4% so far this week, biggest drop since
end-March
* Palladium hits record high of $1,705.84/oz
* Platinum on track for first weekly gain in five
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl

By K. Sathya Narayanan
Oct 11 (Reuters) - Gold fell over 1% on Friday, en route to
its biggest weekly decline since March, as easing concerns about
the U.S.-China trade conflict and Britain's exit from the
European Union renewed appetite for riskier assets.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.8% to $1,482.85 per ounce as of 1:31
p.m. EDT (1731 GMT), after slumping as much as 1.4% earlier.
It was headed for a weekly decline of about 1.4%, its
biggest since the end of March.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled down 0.8% at $1,488.70.
"The U.S. and China appear to be close to reaching, at
least, a partial agreement on trade and that's lifting investors
sentiment (for riskier assets). That's a negative for safe-haven
assets including gold," Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst with Kitco
Metals.
Investors expect top-level U.S.-China talks to result in a
partial trade deal, which would dial down the 15-month dispute
and delay a U.S. tariff hike scheduled for next week.
"There are reports that the UK and the EU may be making some
progress on a Brexit that won't be a hard Brexit and that's
lifting European spirit so all that is working against the gold
market," Wyckoff added.
Gold denominated in sterling XAUGBP=R slid about 3% to
1,163.22 pounds an ounce.
A Brexit deal could be clinched by the end of October to
allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion, Irish Prime
Minister Leo Varadkar said after what he called a very positive
meeting with Boris Johnson. Gold is often used as a hedge against political and economic
uncertainties.
Analysts said gold still looked bullish both fundamentally
and technically, in the longer term.
"I don't see a massive sell-off in gold on the back of a
trade deal if there is one. It would actually be positive in
(the) long term," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst with
Forex.com.
"If China gets a deal, Chinese demand for gold should rise
as it is the largest gold consumer in the world." GOL/AS
Among other precious metals, palladium XPD= fell 0.2% to
$1,696.30 an ounce, after scaling a record of $1,705.84 earlier
in the day.
"The fundamentals project a shortfall of supply of palladium
to the market going forward and the physical availability is
tight at the moment," a New York-based analyst said, adding
positive trade developments are further supporting the metal.
Palladium is used by the auto sector and oil refineries
because of its catalytic properties.
Platinum XPT= fell 0.5% to $894.45 an ounce but was on
track for its first weekly gain in five, while silver XAG= was
steady at $17.48.