(Adds comments, updates prices)
* Palladium hits record high of $2,235/oz
* Platinum surpasses $1,000 for first time in nearly 2 years
* U.S.-China 'Phase 1' trade deal to be signed later in the
day
By K. Sathya Narayanan
Jan 15 (Reuters) - Gold on Wednesday rose from an over
one-week low hit in the last session on renewed worries about
U.S.-China relations ahead of the signing of an initial trade
deal.
Among other precious metals, palladium climbed to a record
high and platinum surged to its highest in nearly two years.
Just a day before the signing an interim trade deal, U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday said tariffs on
Chinese goods would be in place until the completion of a Phase
2 agreement. Spot gold XAU= rose 0.4% to $1,552.08 per ounce as of 1341
GMT, having slipped to a more than one-week low of $1,535.63 in
the previous session. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 gained 0.5% to
$1,552.60.
"The market is uncertain regarding the deal between U.S. and
China, while somewhat weaker equity markets and weaker U.S.
dollar are (also) supporting gold prices," Commerzbank analyst
Eugen Weinberg said.
"The tariffs are not to be reduced any further until the
U.S. election cycle is over in November and that doesn't help in
bringing in the confidence into the market."
World stocks eased off record highs as euphoria over the
trade deal depleted. MKTS/GLOB
Keeping the tariffs could reduce the economic benefits of
the Phase 1 deal by limiting China's access to one of its
largest trading markets. "The hypothetical Phase 2 will take time and there is now no
certainty on this. For this reason, it's very little surprise to
see gold in green, recovering to the threshold of $1,550," Carlo
Alberto De Casa, Chief analyst at ActivTrades said in a note.
Also on investors' radar was the Federal Reserve's Beige
Book, a summary of commentary on economic conditions, due at
1900 GMT.
Bolstered by a prolonged supply deficit, auto-catalyst
palladium XPD= notched a record high of $2,235 an ounce
earlier in the session, and was last up 1.6% at $2,230.38.
"We don't believe that the all-time high level (for
palladium) will be a deterrent for fresh buying!" MKS traders
wrote in a note.
"Any correction should be met with aggressive buying and
remain short-lived. We expect palladium to remain in the
spotlight again this year."
Platinum XPT= climbed 2.9% to $1,012.13, having risen to
its highest since February 2018 at $1,013.57 an ounce.
"People are just taking positions because of platinum's
discount to palladium in terms of the spread. People are coming
in and doing some bargain hunting," INTL FCStone analyst Rhona
O'Connell said. XPDXPT=R
Silver XAG= rose 0.2% to $17.83 per ounce.
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Platinum surpasses $1,000/oz https://tmsnrt.rs/36RqDyp
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