PRECIOUS-Gold prices hold firm on trade, growth concerns

* Speculators increase net longs in COMEX gold
* Gold up nearly 6% so far this month

(Updates prices)
By Harshith Aranya
Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady in
holiday-thinned trade on Monday, trading near the psychological
$1,500 level, as uncertainties around the Sino-U.S. trade war
and concerns about slowing global economic growth offered
support.
Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $1,496.20 per ounce
at 0556 GMT.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were flat at $1,508.30 an ounce.
Many markets in Asia, including Singapore and Japan, were
closed for a holiday on Monday.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not ready
to make a deal with China and even called the September round of
trade talks into question. "One risk to higher gold prices has been resolution in the
U.S. -China trade talks, so the comment made by Trump on Friday
clearly diminishes the likelihood of resolution anytime soon,"
said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the United
States was still planning to hold another round of trade talks
with Chinese negotiators. Last week, Washington also accused China of being a currency
manipulator after Beijing allowed the yuan to slip below 7 to
the dollar. The escalation in the trade war between the world's biggest
two biggest economies has triggered a strong rally in gold
prices, which have risen nearly 6% so far this month.
"If we see continuation in the trade war, the outlook for
gold remains positive; we do see prices stabilising around above
$1,500. In the near-term, there is every likelihood that we will
continue see gold prices push higher," Hynes said.
Worries about the damaging effects of the row were
underscored by a warning from Goldman Sachs of the rising risk
of a recession, and that it no longer expects a trade deal
before the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Also pointing to an economic slowdown, data last week showed
the British economy unexpectedly shrank for the first time since
2012 in the second quarter, while German industrial production
suffered its biggest annual decline in nine years. MKTS/GLOB
Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish stance
in COMEX gold and trimmed net long positions in silver contracts
in the week to Aug. 6, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC) said on Friday. Among other precious metals, silver XAG= eased 0.3% to
$16.90 per ounce.
Platinum XPT= was steady at $858.92, while palladium
XPD= gained 0.3% to $1,426 an ounce.