Gold edges up on dollar pull back; focus on U.S.-China trade talks

By Sethuraman N R

(Reuters) - Gold prices edged up in late Asian trade on Tuesday as the dollar fell from multi-week highs, with bullion drawing support from global economic slowdown worries and uncertainties surrounding Sino-U.S. trade talks.

Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,312 per ounce, as of 0738 GMT, after falling 0.4 percent in the previous session.

U.S. gold futures were also mostly unchanged at $1,312.70 per ounce.

"The pull back in the U.S. dollar is driving up commodity prices including gold," said Margaret Yang, market analyst with CMC Markets, Singapore.

"The present strength in dollar is not sustainable against the backdrop of very dovish U.S. Federal Reserve. There are plenty of uncertainties for traders to worry about this week, including trade talks and Brexit debate, which should support gold prices."

New round of trade talks between China and the United States started in Beijing on Monday with world's two largest economies trying to hammer out a deal before a March 1 deadline, after which U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent.

Sino-U.S. trade tensions have rattled financial markets since last year and also underpinned the dollar's safe-haven appeal.

The dollar index fell 0.1 percent to 96.999, after advancing 0.4 percent in the previous session in its largest percentage gain since Jan. 24. [USD/]

Gold prices fell after hitting a nine-month high at $1,326.30 in late January, mostly due to dollar strength.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

For the near-term, the yellow metal is expected to stay above $1,300, which is seen as critical support level in charts followed by technical traders, analysts said.

"Ongoing trade tensions and concerns about weaker global economic growth continue to provide a level of support in the gold market," ANZ analysts said in a research note.

Meanwhile, U.S. congressional negotiators said late on Monday they had reached a tentative deal on border security funding that would avert another partial government shutdown due to start on Saturday, but provided no details.

Investors are worried about the economic impact of U.S. government shutdown when global growth is already lean.

Among other metals, palladium rose 0.4 percent to $1,391.50 per ounce, while silver inched up 0.5 percent to $15.79.

Platinum rose 0.4 percent to $786 per ounce. In the previous session, the metal had touched $784.91, its lowest since Jan. 2.

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)