Dec 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices were little changed on
Tuesday as differing views of Chinese and U.S. officials on the
interim trade deal announced last week kept investors on the
sidelines.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was trading at $1,475.74 per ounce by
0044 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCv1 were flat at $1,480.20.
* The "Phase One" trade deal has been "absolutely
completed", a top White House adviser said on Monday, adding
that U.S. exports to China will double under the agreement.
However, Beijing remained cautious ahead of the signing of the
agreement. * Under the agreement, Washington will reduce some tariffs
on Chinese imports in exchange for Chinese purchases of
agricultural, manufactured and energy products increasing by
about $200 billion over the next two years. * Asian shares climbed but a lack of detail about the
preliminary deal capped gains. MKTS/GLOB
* Gold, considered a safe investment in times of political
and economic uncertainty, has gained about 15% this year, mainly
driven by the 17-month-long tariff war and its impact on the
global economy.
* Gold miners Endeavour and Centamin have agreed to assess
the feasibility of a merger, following a weekend meeting between
top managers of the two companies. * Elsewhere, palladium XPD= rose 0.2% to $1,981.54 an
ounce. Prices hit an all-time peak of $1,991.38 in the previous
session.
* Silver XAG= rose 0.1% to $17.04 per ounce, while
platinum XPT= was unchanged at $928.93.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0930 UK Claimant Count Unem Chng Nov
0930 UK ILO Unemployment Rate Oct
1330 US Housing Starts Number Nov
1415 US Industrial Production MM Nov