PRECIOUS-Gold steadies with focus on trade talks; palladium breaks new records

* Palladium hits fresh high of $1,783.21/oz
* GRAPHIC-Platinum/palladium ratio: http://tmsnrt.rs/1QjSZAC

(Adds comments, updates prices)
By Eileen Soreng
Oct 17 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Thursday as investors
focused on lingering uncertainties over U.S.-China trade ties,
while deficit-ridden palladium soared to another record high.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.3% to $1,494.05 per ounce at 1336
GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 also rose 0.3% to $1,497.90.
Gold denominated in sterling XAUGBP=R had slid as much as
1.6% to its lowest since July 26 at 1,141.86 pounds an ounce
earlier in the session after Britain and the European Union
agreed to a new Brexit deal.
The agreement comes more than three years after Britons
voted to leave the bloc, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson still
faces a knife-edge vote in parliament to get it approved.
"(The) market will put this (Brexit) very quickly behind it,
don't expect any long lasting impact and the focus entirely will
be on the second big issue - the ongoing (U.S.-China) trade
conflict and looming uncertainty about the kind of agreement
that was reached," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.
In U.S.-China trade talks, negotiators were working on
nailing down a phase 1 trade deal text for their presidents to
sign next month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on
Wednesday. Also helping prop up gold, the dollar fell to an over
one-month low. USD/ MKTS/GLOB
Weak U.S. retail sales data released on Wednesday fanned
fears about the health of the world's biggest economy, aiding
the safe-haven sentiment for bullion.
On the technical front, support lay around $1,475 and
resistance, around resistance, around $1,515, said Afshin
Nabavi, senior vice president at precious metals trader MKS SA.
"A break of $1,525 should be able to bring in more
aggressive buying."
Meanwhile, palladium XPD= fell 0.2% to $1,763.34 an ounce,
after hitting an all-time high of $1,783.21 earlier in the
session.
Palladium is crucial in the making of catalytic converters
used in exhaust systems of vehicles, and concerns over its
supply running out have helped lift prices by more than 41% this
year alone, despite a weakening auto sector.
"The fundamental data is deteriorating but completely being
ignored by the market. Don't know for how long market can turn a
blind eye on that (with the) very dire state of the global car
market," Commerzbank's Fritsch said.
Platinum XPT= increased by 0.6% to $887.87 per ounce and
silver XAG= climbed 0.8% higher to $17.52.

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Palladium's record run https://tmsnrt.rs/2N199Hl
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