PRECIOUS-Gold breaks above $1,350 level as growth woes lift safe-haven demand

* Gold up 1.1% so far this week, set for 4th weekly gain
* Palladium on track for best week in nearly 9 months
* Silver hits one-week high
* China May industrial output growth weakest in 17 years

(Updates prices, adds comments and details)
By Brijesh Patel
June 14 (Reuters) - Gold jumped more than 1% on Friday,
surpassing the key $1,350 level for the first time since April
last year, as a spur of weak economic data from both China and
the United States, and political concerns in the Middle East
raised safe-haven demand.
Spot gold XAU= climbed 1.01% to $1,355.49 per ounce as of
0749 GMT, after hitting its highest level since April 11, 2018
at $1,358.04 earlier in the session.
Bullion has risen 1.1% so far this week, keeping the yellow
metal on track for its fourth consecutive weekly gain.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 jumped 1.2% to $1,359.50 an ounce.
"With geopolitical risk premium ratcheting higher on the
back of Middle East tensions and autonomy protest in Hong
Kong, gold represents dependable insurance against those
mounting geopolitical risks," said Stephen Innes, managing
partner at SPI Asset Management.
On Thursday, Washington blamed Iran for attacks on two oil
tankers in the Gulf of Oman, raising concerns about a new
U.S.-Iranian confrontation. Scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police in Hong
Kong on Thursday as hundreds of people kept up a protest against
a planned extradition law with mainland China. Meanwhile, China's industrial output growth slowed to a more
than 17-year low of 5% in May, the latest sign of weakening
demand in the world's second-largest economy as the United
States ramps up trade pressure. "When the markets start waxing bearish economic data, it's
the global recession they are concerned about, triggered by
escalation of trade war," Innes said.
"If we have world's second-largest economy struggling,
arguably we also have the U.S. struggling, this is bad and we
know we are one step away from recession."
Impact of the long-drawn trade war was also evident on the
U.S. labor market, which saw an unexpected rise in the number of
Americans filing applications for unemployment over the last
week. Recent economic readings out of U.S. have also boosted
expectations of a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve, pulling
short-dated U.S. Treasury yields lower on Thursday ahead of the
central bank's meeting next week. "Gold traded higher as its appeal as an alternative
investment in times of uncertainty. The yellow metal has risen
as the probabilities of a summer interest rate cut by the Fed
have increased," Alfonso Esparza, a senior market analyst at
OANDA, said in a note.
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= gained 1% to
$15.04, its highest in a week. Platinum XPT= rose 0.7% to
$813.08.
Palladium XPD= climbed 0.4% to $1,450.85 after hitting its
highest since April 29 at $1,453.30 earlier in the session.
The auto-catalyst metal has gained 7% so far this week and
is set to post its best week since week ended Sept. 21, 2018.