CORRECTED-PRECIOUS-Gold prices off one-week high as U.S.-China trade tensions lift dollar

(In 7th paragraph corrects Shinzo Abe's title to prime minister
from president)
* Trade tensions, rise in U.S. consumer confidence support
dollar
* Gold's path mixed after failure to break $1,286
level-technicals
* Palladium hits more than one-week high

By Eileen Soreng
May 28 (Reuters) - Gold on Tuesday slipped from the previous
session's one-week peak, pulled down by a firm dollar as the
currency was the preferred safe-haven amid uncertainty over
U.S.-China trade tensions.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.5% to $1,278.77 per ounce by 11:37
a.m. EDT (1537 GMT), having touched its highest since May 17 at
$1,287.32 in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 were 0.4% lower at $1,278.1 an
ounce.
"The most important force in the market at the moment is the
U.S.-China trade tensions and once again we see the dollar
benefiting from safe-haven flows rather than gold," said Suki
Cooper, precious metals analyst at Standard Chartered Bank.
"It's going to be a very difficult hurdle for gold to reach
the 1,300 level and that might not happen until we see more
seasonal demand coming into play or if the dollar strength
starts to ease, which we don't think will happen till later in
the year."
The dollar .DXY rose 0.3% against a basket of other
leading currencies, supported by trade and political worries and
a strong rise in U.S. consumer confidence. USD/
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday at a news
conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he was
"not ready to make a deal with China," denting hopes of a trade
agreement between the world's biggest economies. The dollar has also benefited from a slide in the euro,
driven lower by political risks in Europe following last week's
European Union parliamentary elections, which showed a
polarization of the 28-member bloc. Further weighing on the bullion prices was a firm U.S.
equities market propped up by the technology sector. .N
Signals are mixed for spot gold as it failed twice to break
resistance at $1,286 per ounce, according to Reuters technical
analyst Wang Tao. weeks of difficult market conditions where highs
have been bought and lows sold, the conviction rate among
traders have deteriorated," said Saxo Bank commodity strategist
Ole Hansen.
The longs that were bought during the past couple of days
are now being sold back following the break below $1,292.6 and
$1,286, Hansen added.
Hedge funds and money managers sharply reduced their net
long positions in COMEX gold in the week to May 21, the U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. CFTC/
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= was down 1.8% at
$14.33 per ounce.
"In the current climate where there are concerns around
silver industrial demand and trade tensions potentially
impacting demand from China, silver outlook looks vulnerable in
the near term," Cooper said.
Palladium XPD= climbed 0.4% to $1,341.56 per ounce, after
hitting its highest since May 15 at $1,349. Platinum XPT= fell
1.3% to $795.96.

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TECH/C https://tmsnrt.rs/2I1UB7F
Speculators' positions in commodities http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/11/02/cftc.html
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