Gold extends gains; all eyes on U.S.-Sino trade talks

By Eileen Soreng

BENGALURU(Reuters) - Gold prices rose for a second session on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected at the end of a two-day policy meeting, while investors awaited U.S.-China trade talks.

Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,308.31 per ounce, as of 0351 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery rose 0.3 percent to $1,309.20 per ounce.

"The inflation numbers this week did point to a potential acceleration in those (interest) rate hikes... But after the FOMC meeting yesterday that appears to be less likely and so we're seeing assets such as gold being bought at the back of that," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.

Non-yielding gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates as it becomes less attractive compared with assets that bear interest.

The Fed left its benchmark interest rates unchanged in a target range of between 1.50 percent and 1.75 percent. The central bank raised rates in March and forecasts another two increases this year.

Investors also awaited the U.S.-China trade talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He due on Thursday.

"Safe-haven buying has been absent, of late... But there have been some signals for the past few days that the negotiations won't be as smooth as expected so that would definitely be a focus, particularly now that we have gotten past the FOMC meeting," Hynes added.

A breakthrough deal to fundamentally change China's economic policies is viewed as highly unlikely during the two-day meet, though a package of short-term Chinese measures could delay a U.S. decision to impose tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese exports.

Asian shares were subdued on Thursday ahead of the trade talks, while the U.S. dollar consolidated recent bumper gains after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed the outlook for more rate hikes this year.

Spot gold may bounce again towards a resistance at $1,317 per ounce as it has found a strong support at $1,302, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.4 percent to $16.41 per ounce

Platinum climbed 0.9 percent to $897.70 per ounce, while palladium rose 0.5 percent to $894.24 per ounce.

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)