PRECIOUS-Gold rises to over 1-week high as virus victims mount in China

(Updates prices)
* Global stocks ease from record highs
* Palladium deficit expected in 2020 -Johnson Matthey

By Diptendu Lahiri
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Gold prices jumped to their highest in
more than a week on Thursday after a sharp increase in the
number of new coronavirus cases in China renewed fears over
global economic impact and persuaded investors to seek
lower-risk assets.
China reported a record rise in deaths and thousands more
infections using a broader definition on Thursday, while Japan
became the third location outside mainland China to experience a
fatality. Spot gold XAU= rose 0.7% to 1,576.32 per ounce by 1844
GMT, after touching its highest since Feb. 4, earlier in the
session, at $1,577.81 .
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled 0.5% up at $1,578.80.
"Gold will continue to rise until the market is sure as to
what extent the virus has damaged," said Bob Haberkorn, senior
market strategist at RJO Futures. "We got conflicting news
overnight about the course that the epidemic is taking. We are
not sure of how China is handling the situation."
Global share markets retreated from record highs as the
spike in new coronavirus cases in China weighed on the
sentiment. MKTS/GLOB
Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of
political and financial uncertainty.
"Even before the coronavirus, gold was being supported by
easy policies by global central banks and they are not going to
change course soon," Haberkorn said, adding that if the
coronavirus is contained gold would go down at maximum by $20 to
$30.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his
confidence in the U.S. economic outlook, despite some drag
"soon" from the coronavirus situation. On Wednesday, China reported its lowest number of new virus
cases since late January, lending weight to a prediction from
its senior medical adviser that the outbreak might be over by
April.
"Investors were starting to get a little more confident that
we were turning a corner potentially even starting to see some
light at the distant end of the tunnel, and then this spike in
the numbers...has kind of just knocked the wind out of the
sizeable bet," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said.
Palladium XPD= rose 1.2% to $2,434.56 per ounce, having
hit a one-week high earlier in the session.
Rising demand from automakers pushed the palladium market to
its biggest deficit for five years in 2019 and the deficit is
expected to grow this year too, materials maker Johnson Matthey
said. Silver XAG= rose 1.1% to $17.65 per ounce, while platinum
XPT= gained 0.9% to $969.37.