PRECIOUS-Gold hits 14-month high on growth woes, Middle East tensions

* Gold up 0.8% so far this week, set for 4th weekly gain
* Palladium set for biggest weekly gain since September 2018
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl

(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Eileen Soreng
June 14 (Reuters) - Gold hit its highest since April last
year on Friday as political tensions in the Middle East and weak
economic data from China and the United States pushed it above
$1,350.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.7% at $1,351.16 per ounce at 1247
GMT, after hitting its highest since April 2018 at $1,358.04
earlier in the session.
Prices have risen 0.8% so far this week, keeping the metal
on track for its fourth consecutive weekly gain. U.S. gold
futures GCv1 climbed 1% to $1,356.9 an ounce.
"In people's minds there is a sense of a deeply darkening
macroeconomic backdrop, in particular the likelihood that the
U.S. will drop interest rates quite soon," said Ross Norman,
chief executive at bullion dealer Sharps Pixley.
Investors are getting ahead of the curve by buying gold in
expectation the U.S. Federal Reserve will have to reverse its
previous tightening policy, by extension pressuring the dollar
and lifting gold, Norman said.
China's industrial output growth slowed to a more than
17-year low of 5% in May, the latest sign of weakening demand in
the world's second-largest economy as the U.S. ramps up trade
pressures. The impact of the U.S.-China trade war was also evident in
the U.S. labour market, which saw an unexpected rise in the
number of Americans filing applications for unemployment over
the last week. Recent soft U.S. economic readings have also boosted
expectations of a Fed rate cut. In addition to weighing on the
dollar, lower interest rates also cut the opportunity cost of
holding non-yielding bullion.
Meanwhile, world stocks struggled as Chinese data rekindled
concerns over the global economy, while fears of a new U.S.-Iran
confrontation intensified. MKTS/GLOB
Iran has rebuffed blame from Washington for this week's
attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and affirmed its
responsibility for security in the Strait of Hormuz, through
which almost a fifth of the world's oil passes, state radio
reported. The price action of gold is attracting new investors and a
fresh multi-year high is a possibility, said Ronan Manly, a
precious metals analyst at BullionStar Singapore.
"This would bring momentum to the gold price and would spur
further western gold demand, but could bring in more selling
from the East."
Elsewhere, silver XAG= gained 1% to $15.04, while platinum
XPT= was up 0.2% at $808.95.
Palladium XPD= rose 0.8% to $1,455.80 after hitting its
highest since April 29 at $1,466.05 earlier in the session.
The autocatalyst metal has risen about 7% so far this week,
its biggest weekly gain since the week ended Sept. 21, 2018.