PRECIOUS-Gold eases on stronger equities, U.S.-China trade optimism

* Markets await Lagarde's first speech as new ECB head
* European shares jump to near two-year high
* Palladium holds above $1,800, platinum scales over 1-month
peak

(Updates prices)
By Asha Sistla
Nov 4 (Reuters) - Gold inched lower on Monday on increasing
risk appetite amongst investors, driven by optimism on
U.S.-China trade talks and fading fears of a global economic
slowdown.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.1% to $1,511.44 per ounce at 1220
GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 edged 0.2% higher at $1,513.70.
"Gold has been caught in a range for a few weeks considering
that these recession fears have really faded. Also, there was
some progress in the trade talks, this is really holding gold
back at the moment," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.
"It's really this kind of shift of sentiment in financial
markets — from concern to rather optimistic — which is causing
some headwinds to gold."
European shares soared to a near two-year high on strong
earning reports and hopes for a trade deal between Washington
and Beijing. .EU
However, weak manufacturing data from major European regions
indicated further uncertainty in global growth, which is
supportive of demand for bullion as a safe-haven asset, said
analysts. In Berlin, the European Central Bank's new head, Christine
Lagarde, gives her first speech in the role later in the day and
markets expect her to stick to an easy policy script left by her
predecessor, Mario Draghi.
On the trade front, the United States and China on Friday
said they made progress in talks aimed at defusing a nearly
16-month-long trade war that has harmed the global economy, and
U.S. officials said a deal could be signed this month.
Markets drew further optimism from U.S. economic data last
week that eased apprehensions of a slowdown fuelled by the trade
war. Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates for
the third time this year, but signalled there would be no
further reductions unless the economy takes a turn for the
worse. "The overall backdrop for gold with the shaky global growth,
uncertainties related to trade tensions, weakening U.S. dollar
that remains in place as we're moving into 2020 - based on that
we believe that gold will be higher," Julius Baer's Menke said.
Speculators increased their net long positions in both gold
and silver in the week to Oct. 29, data showed. CFTC/
Among other metals, silver XAG= rose 0.2% to $18.13 per
ounce.
Platinum XPT= rose 0.3% to $948.77 per ounce, having
earlier hit its highest since Sept. 25 at $955.75, while
palladium XPD= advanced 0.2% to $1,808.21.
"Given its (platinum's) sluggish behaviour this year,
particularly when comparing to palladium, perhaps there is room
for more extension here. $960 has spooked investors a number of
times so that is an important level to watch, in conjunction
with the psychological $1000," MKS PAMP said in a note.