PRECIOUS-Gold falls as dollar edges higher; U.S.-China trade talks in focus

* SPDR Gold holdings fall 0.2% on Wednesday
* Gold to stabilise around $1,404/oz, bounce to
$1,421-technicals

(Updates prices)
By Brijesh Patel
June 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices dipped on Thursday as the
dollar inched higher to a near one-week high, while investors
waited on any Sino-U.S. trade developments later this week in
Japan.
Spot gold XAU= was down 0.4% at $1,402.09 per ounce as of
0654 GMT, after shedding more than 1% in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 slipped 0.6% to $1,406.30 an ounce.
"There appears to be some fatigue around preannouncements on
the trade issues... If we don't see any sort of agreement, then
we can see support for gold coming back, but in the meantime
that modulation is expected to weigh on gold prices," said
Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist, CMC Markets.
"This looks like a corrective action at the moment," he
said, adding that a slight uptick in the dollar was also
pressuring gold prices.
The dollar .DXY edged up to its highest since June 21 as
some of the jitters ahead of the G20 summit in Japan eased amid
hopes for progress there in resolving the Sino-U.S. trade war.
USD/
The South China Morning Post, citing sources, said
Washington and Beijing were laying out an agreement that would
help avert the next round of tariffs on an additional $300
billion of Chinese imports. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal
with Chinese President Xi Jinping was possible this weekend but
warned he was prepared to impose U.S. tariffs on virtually all
remaining Chinese imports if talks fail. Trump raised the possibility that he may impose a lower, 10%
duty on a $300 billion list of Chinese imports, instead of the
proposed 25% rate.
He also weighed into U.S. monetary policy, accusing Fed
Chairman Jerome Powell of doing a "bad job" and "out to prove
how tough he is" by not cutting interest rates. This comes after Powell said the central bank was "insulated
from short-term political pressures," pushing back against
Trump's demand for a significant rate cut. "Even though the Fed has hinted at an upcoming rate cut, the
comments of 50 basis points being too much could end up with the
central bank holding rates steady if economic indicators rebound
in the short term," Alfonso Esparza, a senior market analyst at
OANDA, said in a note.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.22% to 797.85 tonnes on
Wednesday. GOL/ETF
On the technical side, spot gold may stabilise around a
support at $1,404 per ounce, and bounce towards a resistance at
$1,421, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= fell 0.4% to
$15.18 per ounce and platinum XPT= eased 0.4% to $811.13.
Palladium XPD= was down 0.2% at $1,519.10 an ounce.