PRECIOUS-Gold rises as trade deal doubts pressure equities

(Updates prices)
* Platinum rises after four losing sessions
* "Sustained expansion" ahead for U.S. economy: Powell
* U.S. October consumer prices rise 0.4%, more than expected

By Asha Sistla
Nov 13 (Reuters) - Gold gained on Wednesday as U.S.
President Donald Trump's speech on the trade ties with China
diminished optimism for a deal and dented risk appetite.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.4% to $1,462.03 per ounce as of 1:36
p.m. EST (1836 GMT). U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled up 0.7%
at $1,463.30.
"President Trump talked about raising tariffs eventually if
there is no resolution or any deal on phase one and that seems
to be enticing buyers to gold," said Michael Matousek, head
trader at U.S. Global Investors.
"Over the longer term, as an investment it (gold) is still
the safe haven. People still want to own it. The overall trend
is still up."
Trump on Tuesday said a trade deal was close but gave no
details on when or where an agreement would be signed,
disappointing investors in what was billed as a major speech on
his administration's economic policies.
He also rattled some investors by threatening China with
even more tariffs if the two countries do not reach a deal.
The trade uncertainty weighed on U.S. equities, with further
pressure coming from ongoing protests in Hong Kong. .N
Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong planned to paralyze
parts of the Asian financial hub for a third day, with
transport, schools and many businesses closing after violence
escalated across the city. Investors also took stock of latest comments from the U.S.
Federal Reserve, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying that the
central bankers see a "sustained expansion" ahead for the U.S.
economy, while the full impact of recent interest rate cuts has
yet to be felt. Meanwhile, U.S. CPI data was better than expected as
consumer prices for the month of October rose by 0.4%, exceeding
expectations. Gold's reaction to Powell's comments, however, was
relatively muted.
"They're (the Fed) not going to make any kind of move on
interest rates. So as a result of that gold futures continue to
remain firm," said Phillip Streible, senior commodities
strategist at RJO Futures.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, which
lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Among other precious metals, palladium XPD= climbed 0.6%
to $1,709.64 an ounce. The metal hit an all-time high of
$1,824.50 on Oct. 30 as a result of a sustained supply crunch.
The auto-catalyst metal, could, however, be headed for a
pullback, RJO Futures' Streible said.
Silver XAG= gained 0.9% to $16.92 per ounce and platinum
XPT= was up 0.5% to $873.03 an ounce and was set to end four
straight sessions of declines.

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