PRECIOUS-Gold inches up on U.S.-China trade deal uncertainty

(Recasts, updates prices, adds comment)
* Holdings in SPDR Gold fell 0.16% on Thursday
* Silver set for steepest weekly fall since July 2017

By Sumita Layek
Nov 8 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged higher on Friday as
uncertainty around U.S.-China trade deal dented investors' risk
appetite, but the metal was set for its biggest weekly decline
in 2-1/2 years.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.3% to $1,472.08 per ounce at 0804
GMT, but were poised for its biggest weekly drop of about 3%
since May 2017. In the previous session, prices dropped 2% to
their lowest in more than a month.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.4% at $1,472.1 per ounce.
Asian stocks retreated from six-month highs as conflicting
signals from China and the United States on progress made in
trade talks deflated market hopes of a near term truce to end
their damaging tariff war. MKTS/GLOB
"I don't think the market is going to be convinced until
there is ink on paper," said Ilya Spivak, a senior currency
strategist at DailyFx.
"The market has a lot of questions, and that's why ... even
though there was a selloff, gold did not break below the lows in
August."
An agreement between the United States and China to roll
back existing tariffs as part of a 'phase one' trade deal faced
fierce internal opposition at the White House and from outside
advisers, multiple sources familiar with the talks said.
"Market is too sensitive to all the information that is
coming down; the venue (for the deal signing) has not been
decided, internally the U.S. administration is having some
problems with these tariff rollback," said Jigar Trivedi, a
commodities analyst at Mumbai-based Anand Rathi Shares & Stock
Brokers.
However, he added "For now, the trend will continue on the
lower side only."
Gold prices have risen over 14% so far this year mainly due
to the protracted trade war that spurred global economic
slowdown fears.
Reflecting sentiment, holdings in the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund SPDR Gold Trust GLD dipped
0.16% on Thursday.
"Given the positivity that is reflected in equities and
rates markets, the acknowledgement that things could just as
easily take a turn for the worse appears to be expressed through
gold positions at the moment," UBS said in a note.
"This raises the risk that further improvements towards a
credible and comprehensive trade deal would trigger substantial
unwinding in the gold market."
Elsewhere, silver XAG= dropped 0.1% to $17.09 per ounce,
and was set to fall about 6% for the week, its steepest drop
since July 2017.
Platinum XPT= fell 0.2% to $907.07 per ounce, poised for a
more than 4% drop for the week. Palladium XPD= lost 0.1% to
$1,799.47, and was headed for its worst week in five.