PRECIOUS-Gold prices off one-week high as U.S.-China trade tensions lift dollar

* Silver hits its lowest since Dec. 3
* Gold-silver ratio soars to 26-year peak
* Gold's path mixed after failure to break $1,286
level-technicals
* Trade tensions, rise in U.S. consumer confidence support
dollar

(Updates prices, adds quote and details)
By Eileen Soreng
May 28 (Reuters) - Gold on Tuesday slipped from the previous
session's one-week peak, pulled down by a firm dollar as the
currency was the preferred safe-haven amid uncertainty over
U.S.-China trade tensions.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.5% to $1,278.12 per ounce by 2 p.m.
ET (1800 GMT), having touched its highest since May 17 at
$1,287.32 in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled down 0.5% at 1,277.10 per
ounce.
"The most important force in the market at the moment is the
U.S.-China trade tensions and once again we see the dollar
benefiting from safe-haven flows rather than gold," said Suki
Cooper, precious metals analyst at Standard Chartered Bank.
"It's going to be a very difficult hurdle for gold to reach
the $1,300 level and that might not happen until we see more
seasonal demand coming into play or if the dollar strength
starts to ease, which we don't think will happen till later in
the year."
The dollar .DXY rose 0.3% against a basket of other
leading currencies, supported by trade and political worries and
a strong rise in U.S. consumer confidence. USD/ U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday at a news
conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he was
"not ready to make a deal with China," denting hopes of a trade
agreement between the world's biggest economies. Further weighing on the bullion prices was a firm U.S.
equities market propped up by the technology sector. .N
Signals are mixed for spot gold as it failed twice to break
resistance at $1,286 per ounce, according to Reuters technical
analyst Wang Tao. COMEX gold speculators cut net long position by
41,545 contracts to 24,378 in week to May 21, the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. CFTC/
The longs that were bought during the past couple of days
are now being sold back following the break below $1,292.6 and
$1,286, said Saxo Bank commodity strategist Ole Hansen.
Elsewhere, silver XAG= was down 2% at $14.30 per ounce,
having hit a low since Dec. 3 at $14.25 earlier in the session.
The gold-silver ratio, which measures the number of silver
ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, climbed to its highest
level since 1993 at around 89.
"Silver has underperformed notably of late amid
directionless gold prices, weakness in industrial metals, and a
lack of compelling fundamental reasons to participate in the
silver market," UBS strategist Joni Teves wrote in a note.
Speculators boosted their net short position in silver in
week to May 21, the CFTC data showed.
Palladium XPD= climbed 0.6% to $1,344.14 per ounce, after
hitting its highest since May 15 at $1,349. Platinum XPT= fell
1.2% to $796.03.

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GRAPHIC: Gold prices technical chart https://tmsnrt.rs/2I1UB7F
GRAPHIC-Speculators' positions in commodities http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/11/02/cftc.html
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