PRECIOUS-Gold holds tight range ahead of key Brexit vote, focus on Fed

* UK PM Boris Johnson faces votes at 1800 GMT
* Traders see 89% chance for 25-bps rate cut by Fed-
FEDWATCH

(Adds comments, updates prices)
By K. Sathya Narayanan
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Gold steadied in a tight range on Tuesday
as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of a crucial
Brexit vote, while focus shifted to the U.S. Federal Reserve's
stance on interest rate cuts.
Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,484.60 per ounce as of
1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 GMT). U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled
mostly unchanged at $1,487.5.
"Everything is really quiet. The biggest factor, with the
Fed looming and Brexit on the horizon, in the U.S. is really
company earnings right now," said Michael Matousek, head trader
at U.S. Global Investors.
"People who are trading gold consistently are saying Brexit
is going to be a non-event and that's why gold is not moving.
(However,) if this is an incorrect assumption, and it becomes a
big event, you are going to see a massive move in gold."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces two pivotal votes
in parliament that will decide whether he can deliver on his
pledge to lead Britain out of the EU in nine days' time.
Lawmakers vote around 1800 GMT on the 115-page Withdrawal
Agreement Bill and then on the government's extremely tight
timetable for approving the legislation. Investors are also awaiting the Federal Reserve's month-end
monetary policy meeting for further clarity on rates cuts this
year.
Federal fund futures imply that traders see a 89% chance for
a 25 basis-point rate cut by the U.S. central bank in its
month-end monetary policy meeting. FEDWATCH
However, amid mixed signals from Fed policymakers it is
unclear if they, overall, will support a cut. "There is a great deal of uncertainty on how the Fed is
going to behave going forward and that is reflected in people
just waiting for some signal," said Jeffrey Christian, managing
partner of CPM Group.
Meanwhile, equities eked out small gains after some upbeat
corporate results and talk of progress in the China-U.S. trade.
China and the United States have achieved some progress in
their trade negotiations, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le
Yucheng said on Tuesday. Those comments came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump
spoke of optimism about a deal, while White House adviser Larry
Kudlow said tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled for December
could be withdrawn if talks went well. Optimism surrounding the U.S.-China trade is slightly
pressuring bullion, said George Gero, managing director at RBC
Wealth Management.
Reflecting sentiment, holdings of gold in exchange traded
funds tracked by Refinitiv HLDTOTALL=XAU have jumped to their
highest since mid-2013.
Elsewhere, silver XAG= slipped 0.5% to $17.48 an ounce.
Platinum XPT= was up 0.3% at $890.50 and palladium XPD= was
0.1% lower at $1,756.03 an ounce.