PRECIOUS-Gold prices steady as trade woes, Fed stance boost dollar

* Patience on interest rates to last 'for some time' - Fed
minutes
* SPDR Gold holdings are down nearly 7% so far this year
* Platinum hits 3-month low

(Updates prices)
By Sethuraman N R
May 23 (Reuters) - Gold prices held firm on Thursday, as
simmering Sino-U.S. trade tensions underpinned the dollar, while
bullion investors looked for a direction after the minutes of
the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting indicated that rates will
remain unchanged.
Spot gold XAU= was mostly flat at $1,274.03 per ounce as
of 0725 GMT, after falling to $1,268.97 on Tuesday - its lowest
level since May 3.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were unchanged at $1,274.20.
"The short-term effect of the U.S.-China trade conflict is
driving the U.S. dollar index higher in general and that doesn't
help gold," Nicholas Frappell, global general manager at ABC
Bullion, said.
"Also, during mid-May, plenty of fresh buying went into long
positions at higher levels, and since then open interest on the
CME has declined, which implies that some of those longs got out
and are on the defensive."
The U.S. administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions
on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision over the country's
treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority, a person briefed on the
matter said on Wednesday. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies
.DXY edged up 0.2% to hover near its one-month high touched
early in the week. USD/
Asian shares were in the red on Thursday amid concerns over
U.S.-China trade. MKTS/GLOB
Meanwhile, minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest
meeting showed that officials agreed their current patient
approach to setting monetary policy could remain in place "for
some time," a further sign policymakers see little need to
change rates in either direction. "Commentary reiterating officials' wait-and-see approach
amid a raft of global uncertainties may cool rate cut hopes,"
Ilya Spivak, senior currency strategist with DailyFx, said.
"That seems inherently U.S. dollar-supportive, with haven
demand (for dollar) acting as a further accelerant as markets
pining for policy support tilt into risk-off territory."
Lackluster investor interest in bullion was reflected in the
holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund. Holdings have declined nearly
7% so far this year.
SPDR holdings edged 0.1% lower to 738.81 tonnes on
Wednesday. GOL/ETF
Spot gold is expected to test a support at $1,264 per ounce,
a break below which could open the way towards $1,244, according
to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Among other precious metals, silver XAG= fell 0.2% to
$14.42 per ounce, while palladium XPD= edged 0.1% lower to
$1,313.50.
Platinum XPT= rose 0.4% to $802.10 an ounce, after
touching its lowest level since Feb. 15 at $792 earlier in the
session.