PRECIOUS-Gold firms above $1,500 as bond yields dip on stimulus hopes

* Investors await Fed minutes on Wednesday, Jackson Hole
symposium
* Silver rises over 1% to above $17; Palladium hits near
3-wk high
* Palladium to remain in structural deficit in 2019 -
Nornickel
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl

(Updates prices)
By Sumita Layek and Asha Sistla
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Tuesday to firm above
$1,500, recovering from a more than 1% slide in the previous
session, as U.S. yields fell on increasing expectations for
looser monetary policy to address fears of a global downturn.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.7% at $1,505.68 per ounce by 1:53
p.m. EDT (1753 GMT), after falling to a near one-week low of
$1,492.10 on Monday. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled up 0.3%
to $1,515.7.
Monday's correction followed a sharp price rally earlier
this month that took gold to six-year highs, largely on the back
of U.S.-China trade war concerns, expectations for further cuts
in U.S. interest rates and as the U.S. yield curve inverted for
the first time since 2007.
"The yield curve inverting has spooked investors in the
U.S.," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO
Futures, adding "People are kind of looking to buy dips ahead of
the Federal Reserve's minutes coming out and what news will come
out at Jackson Hole."
Investors will closely scan the minutes from the U.S. Fed's
July policy meeting due on Wednesday, with focus on the central
bank's Jackson Hole seminar and the Group of Seven summit this
week.
"If they (the Fed) talk about more interest rate cuts for
the rest of the year, gold will continue higher, but if they say
'wait-and-see', gold will probably sell off," Haberkorn said.
Lower U.S. interest rates put pressure on the dollar and
bond yields, increasing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
U.S. stocks were trading slightly lower after a three-day
run, while U.S. Treasury yields fell as the prospect of more
central bank easing boosted demand for government debt.
MKTS/GLOB .N US/
"Participants will be eager to hear what Fed Chairman Jerome
Powell has to say about the future of interest rates, especially
now that the bond market has already driven yields sharply lower
on the long end," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a
note.
The shift in sentiment towards riskier assets contributed to
a more than 1.2% drop in gold prices on Monday, its biggest
daily percentage decline in a month. But prices have risen 17%
this year and more than $100 so far this month.
Meanwhile, palladium XPD= climbed 1.3% to $1,491.88 per
ounce, having earlier hit a more than two-week high of
$1,495.59.
Russia's Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), the world's largest
producer of the autocatalyst metal, said the global palladium
market will remain in structural deficit this year due to
growing demand from the auto sector amid tighter emission
regulations. Elsewhere, silver XAG= rose above the $17 per ounce mark,
gaining 1.9% to $17.17, while platinum XPT= was little changed
at $850.