PRECIOUS-Gold drops as equities surge, but eyes 3rd weekly gain

* Speculation grows of aggressive central bank easing
* Silver set for second week of gains
* Gold may fall into $1,483-$1,503/oz range - techs

(Updates prices)
By Eileen Soreng
Aug 16 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Friday as stocks and the
dollar firmed, but fears of a slowing global economy and lack of
clarity on the U.S.-China trade war kept bullion on track for a
third straight weekly gain.
Spot gold XAU= was down 0.5% at $1,514.70 per ounce as of
1:42 p.m. EDT (1751 GMT), but is up over 1% so far this week.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled down 0.5% at $1,523.60.
"The dollar index is strengthening quite a bit, equity
futures are coming back. ... We're going back a bit to riskier
assets," said Phillip Streible, senior commodities strategist at
RJO Futures, adding that gold could also be seeing some profit
taking.
Hopes for more official economic stimulus for the economy
and the easing of a bond market rally drove a broad rise in U.S.
stocks on Friday, as a bruising week for markets drew to a
close. .N Meanwhile, the dollar index .DXY , which measures the
greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1%
after hitting a two-week high. USD/
"On the daily charts gold still looks good, but we've have
to get above that $1,546 in order to reignite new longs into the
market," Streible said.
Bullion has risen more than $100 since the beginning of the
month amid falling global bond yields, heightened trade tensions
and a slew of disappointing economic data globally.
Earlier this week, 10-year Treasury yields dropped below the
two-year yield for the first time in 12 years. Curve inversion
is widely considered a warning that the economy is headed for
recession. US/
"There are lots of demand factors and drivers that are
making the incremental gold buyer keep their eyes on the gold
market," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global
Investors.
"I anticipate gold pulling into about the $1,460 level. ...
It's still not breaking trend and that'd probably be a good
level for people to start accumulating."
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believed
China wanted to make a trade deal and that the dispute would be
fairly short. Beijing had vowed to counter the latest tariffs on Chinese
goods but called on Washington to meet it halfway on a potential
deal. Investors will now focus on the U.S. Federal Reserve's
annual symposium next week for further hints on monetary easing.
On the technical side, spot gold may fall into a range of
$1,483-$1,503 per ounce, according to Reuters technical analyst
Wang Tao. Elsewhere, silver XAG= fell 0.6% to $17.16 per ounce, but
was on track for a second consecutive weekly gain.
Platinum XPT= rose 0.9% to $849.95 an ounce, while
palladium XPD= rose 0.4% to $1,450.7 an ounce.

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