PRECIOUS-Gold holds above $1,500 on trade tensions

* Gold up 4.3%, Silver gains about 5% so far this week
* Dollar heading for first weekly decline in four
* SPDR Gold holdings up 1.8% so far this week

(Updates prices)
By K. Sathya Narayanan
Aug 9 (Reuters) - Gold was on course for its biggest weekly
gain in more than three years on Friday as it held above $1,500
an ounce on heightened trade tensions between Washington and
Beijing.
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.2% at $1,502.64 per ounce at 1103
GMT, having risen above $1,500 for the first time since April
2013 earlier this week.
Bullion has risen 4.3% so far this week, and about 17% for
the year, gaining more than $100 in the past week.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.3% to $1,514.30 an ounce.
"The trade spat is driving the market crazy. We don't rule
out technical corrections, but $1,500 is now the new normal
unless trade relations take a turn in a right direction," said
Jigar Trivedi, commodities analyst at Mumbai-based Anand Rathi
Shares & Stock Brokers.
In the latest development in the protracted dispute between
the world's biggest economics, a report said that Washington is
delaying a decision about licenses for U.S. firms to restart
trade with Huawei Technologies. HWT.UL . Investment demand and a dovish policy stance by central
banks around the globe are providing additional support to gold
prices, Trivedi added.
The central banks of New Zealand, Thailand and India stunned
markets with a series of interest rate cuts, pointing to
policymakers' dwindling ammunition to fight a downturn.
Federal funds futures FEDWATCH implied traders saw a 69%
chance of at least a 25 basis-point rate cut by the U.S. central
bank this September. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark
interest rate for the first time since 2008 last week.
Lower interest rates reduces the opportunity cost of holding
non-yielding bullion.
The dollar was headed for its first weekly decline in four,
adding to gold's appeal. USD/
Alexander Zumpfe, a precious metals trader at Heraeus, said
there was technical resistance around $1,530 but he did not rule
out a move toward $1,600 if the current expectations of lower
interest rates were reinforced or even confirmed by central
banks through actual interest rate cuts.
Meanwhile, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's
largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, has gained about 1.8%
this week and about 7.3% in 2019. GOL/ETF
Precious metal funds recorded the fourth-largest inflows
ever in the week to Wednesday and investment-grade funds sucked
in money, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday, as
rising trade tensions and global growth concerns prompted a dash
for safe havens. Elsewhere, silver XAG= rose 0.6% to $17 per ounce and was
on course for a weekly gain of nearly 5%. Platinum XPT= dipped
0.1% to $859.43, while palladium XPD= climbed 0.3% to
$1,425.75 an ounce.