PRECIOUS-Gold steadies before U.S. retail sales numbers

(Adds analyst comment, updates prices)
* U.S. retail sales data expected at 1230 GMT
* Gold holding in $1,404-$1,421/oz range - technicals
* Silver hits three-week high of $15.46/oz

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri
July 16 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Tuesday as
investors awaited retail sales data from the United States later
in the session for cues on the health of the world's largest
economy.
Spot gold XAU= inched up 0.1% to $1,414.92 per ounce by
1015 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.2% to $1,416.60.
"Gold fell over the last three weeks and has been in a
consolidation phase," OANDA senior market analyst Craig Erlam
said, adding U.S. retail sales data would offer an important
economic pointer.
"After the U.S. jobs report earlier we've seen a return to
big-news-is-bad-news scenario whereby a strong piece of data,
which could discourage the Fed from cutting interest rates, is
having big implications on the market," he said.
The data is due before major central bank decisions. The
European Central Bank issues a rate decision on July 25, while
the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates shortly after
that. MKTS/GLOB
"Gold has not broken $1,400 and the fact that it is holding
on to these (levels) suggests there is some substance to the
move," Erlam said.
In the ongoing U.S.-Chinese trade row, U.S. President Donald
Trump said slowing economic growth in the world's second largest
economy showed U.S. tariffs were having "a major effect" and
Washington could add pressure.
Chinese data released on Monday showed growth slowed to 6.2%
in the second quarter, its weakest pace in at least 27 years,
raising expectations that Beijing will roll out more support
measures in coming months. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would hold further trade
talks with their Chinese counterparts by phone this week, part
of efforts to end the spat that has weighed on markets.
Spot gold was holding in a narrow range of $1,404-$1,421,
and an escape could suggest a direction, according to Reuters
technical analyst Wang Tao. "We are relatively neutral on gold at this stage, since we
are not seeing much movement in other markets that could
potentially impact it, namely, a clear direction for the dollar
and U.S. Treasury yields," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir
said.
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= rose 0.1% to
$15.40 per ounce, after touching $15.46 in the session, its
highest since June 25.
Platinum XPT= was up 0.5% at $843.39, while palladium
XPD= dipped 0.7% to $1,552.86.