PRECIOUS-Gold bounces above $2,000/oz on sliding dollar

* Gold hits one-week high of $2,014.97/oz
* Silver jumps as much as 3.8%
* Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
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(Updates prices)
By Sumita Layek
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Gold rose over 1% to reclaim the key
$2,000 an ounce level again on Tuesday as the dollar plunged to
two-year lows and the U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower, while
investors awaited minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest
meeting.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.9% at $2,004.21 per ounce by 2:19
p.m. EDT (1819 GMT), after hitting a one-week peak of $2,014.97.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled up 0.7% at $2,013.1.
"People are watching the dollar index and its pretty
alarming how its breaking down and we're seeing all these hard
assets like gold and silver rising up in tandem," said Phillip
Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in
Chicago.
"We're going to run back up to the all-time highs, we had a
healthy correction in the gold market, a lot of people who
jumped on the bear side of the market are going to end up
reversing course."
The dollar index .DXY hit its lowest since May 2018 and
the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields moved lower. USD/
US/
Gold reversed course from earlier in the session, when
prices briefly turned negative after the benchmark S&P 500 index
hit record highs. .N
Investors were now awaiting minutes from the Fed's last
meeting, due on Wednesday. Bullion prices have surged 32% this year as unprecedented
global stimulus fuelled fears of inflation and currency
debasement. USD/ "We see yield of the real rates falling again, so there is
an increase in inflation expectation probably related to the
aggressive fiscal stimulus measures," said UBS analyst Giovanni
Staunovo.
Also helping gold, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on
Tuesday said President Donald Trump wants to move forward with
more economic aid amid the coronavirus pandemic. Among other metals, silver XAG= climbed 2.2% to $28.01 per
ounce after rising as much as 3.8%.
Platinum XPT= rose 1.1% to $960.39, while palladium XPD=
eased 0.2% to $2,195.78.