PRECIOUS-Gold rises on trade war doubts, weak stocks on Hong Kong turmoil

(Updates prices)
* Gold inches up after biggest weekly fall in 3 years
* Silver climbs after shedding 7.1% last week
* UK GDP growth slowed to 1% from 1.3% in Q2

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Monday on fresh
doubts over whether China and the United States can strike a
trade deal, while a sluggish start to the week in equities
weighed on risk appetite after violent weekend protests in Hong
Kong.
Spot gold XAU= prices were 0.2% higher at $1,461.70 per
ounce as of 1323 GMT, after slumping 3.6% last week in their
worst weekly fall in three years. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were
steady at $1,462.60 per ounce.
"The gold market is trying to find its feet after last
week's washout... It only makes sense that the recently
established shorts scale back," said Saxo Bank commodity
strategist Ole Hansen.
"One reason why gold is higher is because the trade deal is
still only speculation, and we are yet to see it. The markets
are being a bit cautious here."
Stock markets dropped on Monday with a fresh escalation of
violence in Hong Kong also weighing on prices. MKTS/GLOB
Local police fired live rounds at protesters, with Cable TV
and other Hong Kong media reporting at least one demonstrator
being wounded. Video footage showed a protester lying in a pool
of blood. "The turmoil in Hong Kong has not helped market sentiment as
it (has) underlined rising geopolitical tensions in the region.
Further market corrections are to be expected this week," said
Pierre Veyret, Technical analyst at ActivTrades.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday that
Beijing wanted a trade deal more than he did. Officials from both sides had said on Thursday that the two
countries had agreed to roll back tariffs on each others' goods
in a "phase one" trade deal. Elsewhere, Britain's economy grew at its slowest annual rate
in nearly a decade in the three months to the end of September
as a global slowdown and Brexit worries hit business investment
and manufacturing. However, data showed business investment held steady in the
third quarter versus economists' expectations for a 0.5% fall.
Among other precious metals, palladium XPD= dropped 1.5%
to $1,717.40 an ounce, after falling 3.3% on Friday. Platinum
XPT= slipped slightly to $886.11, while silver XAG= rose
0.1% to $16.81 after slipping 7.1% in the previous week.