CORRECTED-PRECIOUS-Gold gains on rate-cut bets; platinum hits over 3-week high

(Corrects spot gold milestone in 2nd paragraph to $1,503.81
from $1,50.89 in Oct. 24 story)
* Platinum hits highest since Sept. 30
* Silver, palladium up more than 1%
* GRAPHIC-Plat/palladium ratio: http://tmsnrt.rs/1QjSZAC

By Brijesh Patel
Oct 24 (Reuters) - Gold scaled a near two-week peak on
Thursday after weak economic data from the United States raised
expectations for another interest rate cut by the Federal
Reserve, while platinum jumped to its highest level in more than
three weeks.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.7% to $1,501.97 per ounce by 1:46
p.m. EDT (1746 GMT), after hitting its highest since Oct. 11 at
$1,503.81 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled 0.6% higher at $1,504.70 an
ounce.
"The bump we got now is because of the miss on durable goods
numbers in the U.S.," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market
strategist at RJO Futures said.
"We had a couple of misses in the last few weeks on these
numbers, be it retail sales or durable goods, and some of the
PMI numbers. Overall, it lends support to another rate cut from
the Fed before year-end."
New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods fell more than
expected in September and shipments also declined, the data
showed. Also adding to the concerns over the health of the global
economy, euro zone business activity stagnated in October as
demand withered, according to a survey published on Thursday.
Central banks globally are facing increasing pressure to
dole out monetary support for flagging economies as the
U.S.-China trade dispute continue to take toll on trade and
business sentiment.
The Fed has cut interest rates twice this year and investors
currently see another reduction in borrowing costs when
policymakers meet next week.
Lower U.S. interest rates put pressure on the dollar and
bond yields, increasing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
"One thing that will help propel gold higher is yields. I
reckon the downward trend for yields will resume because
fundamentally, nothing has changed," said Fawad Razaqzada,
market analyst with Forex.com.
"We are still seeing central banks conveying a dovish
message across the board and that should keep yields under
pressure long-term," he said.
Earlier in the day, the European Central Bank left key
interest rates unchanged. Among other precious metals, platinum XPT= gained 0.7% to
$921.08 per ounce, after climbing to its highest since Sept. 30.
"Platinum is also expected to benefit from positive
spillovers from gold. However, its sizeable and rising
above-ground stocks will remain a key headwind over the rest of
2019 and in 2020," Metals Focus said in a weekly note.
Palladium XPD= , which hit a record high of $1,783.21 last
week, climbed 1.7% to $1,771.42 an ounce. Silver XAG= jumped
1.4% to $17.79.