PRECIOUS-Gold slips from 6-year top on profit-taking, still up for the week

* Gold up about 0.6% this week
* Silver hits one-year high, set for best week in three
years
* Platinum scales two-month peak
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl

(Adds analyst comments; updates prices)
By K. Sathya Narayanan
July 19 (Reuters) - Gold fell over 1% on Friday as the
dollar firmed and investors took profits after prices briefly
surpassed $1,450 to hit a six-year peak on dovish signals from
the U.S. Federal Reserve and is still on course for a second
week of gains.
Spot gold XAU= was down 1.5% at $1,424.13 per ounce at
1:52 p.m. EDT (1752 GMT), having touched its highest since early
May 2013 at $1,452.60.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled down 0.1% at $1,426.70 per
ounce.
"Speculators and traders are taking some profits off the
table after the good gains we had in the past two days. Also,
there is always a little bit of pressure on gold when the dollar
is up," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global
Investors.
Prices have risen about 3% in the past two days on increased
expectations for a rate hike by the Fed at its month-end
meeting.
"With a breakout in gold market, positions have gotten
larger and more players are in. So, it can get quite a bit more
whippy," said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals
derivatives trading at BMO.
The dollar .DXY was about 0.3% stronger against a basket
of currencies, recovering from a sharp fall after top Fed
officials on Thursday argued for the need to quickly stimulate
the economy, cementing bets that the U.S. central bank will cut
rates at its July 30-31 policy meeting. USD/ "Gold is still looking good. The interest rates and dollar
environment, uncertainties over the U.S.-China trade war and now
the geopolitical situation being the icing on the cake; all of
this has created a very supportive environment for gold," said
Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler.
The United States said its Navy had destroyed an Iranian
drone in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran said all its drones
had returned to base safely and there was no sign of major
escalation in the Gulf. Elsewhere, silver XAG= slipped 1.2% to $16.14 per ounce,
after surging to its highest level in more than a year, but was
on track for its best week since July 2016, having gained about
6%.
"There is still a good level of demand for silver at the
moment with some investors speculating that the gold/silver
ratio could fall further, and that a silver trade could
potentially allow them to secure more gold in the future," said
See Hong Kang, customer service manager at BullionStar
Singapore.
Platinum XPT= dipped 0.2% to $846.98 per ounce, after
hitting a two-month high, while palladium XPD= fell 0.8% to
$1,513.11 per ounce.