May 14 (Reuters) - Gold rose slightly on Thursday as U.S.
stimulus talks and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's
downbeat economic assessments supported the safe-haven metal,
while investors awaited U.S. initial jobless claims data due
later in the day.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= climbed 0.1% to $1,716.66 per ounce by
0037 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.6% to $1,726.20.
* Asian equities were set to slump after Powell warned of a
"significantly worse" U.S. recession than any downturn since
World War Two because of coronavirus pandemic fallout.
MKTS/GLOB
* Powell signalled bets that the U.S. central bank will
pursue a negative interest-rate policy are off-base, but vowed
to use its power as needed and called for additional fiscal
spending to prop up the virus-hit economy.
* Governors from both major political parties urged
lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to cast aside partisanship and
deliver relief to U.S. cities and states facing economic ruin as
they fight what they called a "red, white and blue pandemic."
* Gold tends to benefit from widespread stimulus measures as
it is often seen as a hedge against inflation and currency
debasement.
* Underscoring the economic impact of the epidemic, U.S.
producer prices fell by the most since 2009 in April, leading to
the largest annual decline in nearly 4-1/2 years. * British house prices are likely to fall as the market
slowly begins to reopen, after a collapse in activity due to
COVID-19 restrictions last month, a survey showed. * The virus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like
HIV, the World Health Organization said, warning against any
attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and
calling for a "massive effort" to counter it. * Highlighting investor appetite for bullion, SPDR Gold
Trust GLD holdings, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, rose 0.78% to 1,092.14 tonnes on
Wednesday. GOL/ETF
* HSBC Holdings Plc HSBA.L suffered mark-to-market losses
of about $200 million in a single day in March after gold prices
in London and New York diverged dramatically, the bank said.
* Palladium XPD= rose 0.8% to $1,832.72 an ounce and
platinum gained 0.2% to $758.35, while silver XAG= fell 0.6%
to $15.55.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany HICP Final YY April
1230 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Weekly