PRECIOUS-Gold slips 1% as Wall Street bets on economic restart

* China seeks to halt large U.S. soybean, pork purchases
-sources
* S&P 500, Dow Jones indexes hit 3-month highs
* SPDR Gold ETF holdings scale 7-year high
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global coronavirus
spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser

(Updates prices)
By Asha Sistla
June 2 (Reuters) - Gold retreated 1% on Tuesday as investors
booked profits and Wall Street rallied on optimism over
economies emerging from coronavirus-led shutdowns.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.7% to $1,727.23 per ounce by 2:54
p.m. ET, giving up some gains from earlier in the session. U.S.
gold futures GCcv1 settled down 0.9% at $1,734.
"There is continuation of optimism in regards to the
reopening of the economy, shown in the ongoing rally in
equities... Under that premise, it's easy to understand gold
could be slightly vulnerable," said David Meger, director of
metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
U.S. equities rose as optimism around reopening businesses
overshadowed fears of Sino-U.S. trade tensions and protests in
the country. .N However, gold's overall trajectory is positive, analysts
said, with the metal having gained over 18% after touching a
near four-month low of $1,450.98 in March, mostly benefiting
from economic uncertainties fuelled by the pandemic and a flurry
of stimulus from global central banks.
On the U.S.-China front, two sources told Reuters China told
state-owned firms to halt large-scale U.S. soybean and pork
purchases, with one of them saying state purchases of U.S. corn
and cotton have also been put on hold. "If you see emotions heating up between U.S. and China over
Hong Kong - that's going to change the trade dynamic with Hong
Kong. More people will gravitate towards gold," said Michael
Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors.
Safe-haven bullion got further support after U.S. President
Donald Trump vowed to use the military to halt widespread
protests in U.S. cities over the death of a black man in police
custody. Meanwhile, holdings in the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust GLD rose to 1,128.40
tonnes on Monday, the highest in seven years. GOL/ETF
Elsewhere, palladium XPD= eased 0.2% to $1,956.74 per
ounce, while platinum XPT= fell 0.5% to $843.27. Silver XAG=
slipped 1.5% to $18.00 per ounce.