CORRECTED (OFFICIAL)-PRECIOUS-Gold soars as Middle East tensions brew 'perfect storm' (Jan. 6)

(Corrects spot gold's high to $1,582.59 from $1,579.72 in the
second paragraph of Jan. 6 story after Refinitiv corrected the
value)
* Palladium hits all-time high of $2,031/oz
* Gold eyes $1,600/oz- analyst
* Wall Street pares losses, gold retreats from day's high

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri
Jan 6 (Reuters) - Gold surged on Monday to a near seven-year
high as the U.S. killing of a top Iranian commander stirred
fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East. Palladium
surpassed $2,000 an ounce for the first time.
Spot gold XAU= was up 1.1% at $1,568.19 per ounce as of
1:42 p.m. EST (1842 GMT), after rising to $1,582.59 earlier in
the session, its highest since April 2013.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled 1.2% higher at $1,568.80
per ounce.
"The markets are nervous about what comes next between the
United States and Iran; there are political risks and there is
safe haven buying in gold," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market
strategist at RJO Futures.
"The equities are lower, and this is a perfect storm for
higher gold between now and until we get some clarity on the
situation."
Iraq's parliament called on Sunday for U.S. and other
foreign troops to leave while Iran lambasted U.S. President
Donald Trump after he threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites,
including targets important to Iranian culture, if Tehran were
to retaliate. The conflict took a hit at risk appetite, sending world
stocks .MIWD00000PUS down 0.3%. MKTS/GLOB On Wall Street,
the Nasdaq turned positive, a sign investors were taking a
cautious approach. .N
"Even though the stock markets pared its losses, and gold
pared some gains, we still look for a higher extended range
because gold has become a necessary haven," said George Gero,
managing director at RBC Wealth Management.
Elsewhere, U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers agreed that
interest rates were likely to stay on hold for "a time," minutes
of the Fed's Dec. 10-11 policy meeting, released on Friday,
showed. Gold is highly sensitive to interest rates, as higher rates
lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Palladium XPD= was up nearly 2% to $2,024.64 an ounce,
after hitting an all-time high of $2,031. The industrial metal
added 53.93% in 2019, and is expected to remain in high demand
this year.
"It (palladium) seems to be unstoppable. Many market players
are of the opinion that the market will remain severely tight,
and that's the main driving force for prices," Commerzbank
analyst Daniel Briesemann said.
Silver XAG= gained 0.7% to $18.17, having earlier hit its
highest in more than three months at $18.50.
Platinum XPT= shed 2.2% to $958.94 an ounce.