SINGAPORE, June 16 (Reuters) - Gold hit its highest in nearly three weeks on Monday, as turmoil in Iraq supported the metal's safe-haven appeal, while platinum group metals gained ahead of the outcome of wage talks to end a five-month long strike in South African mines.          FUNDAMENTALS     * Spot gold  
  XAU=
   rose 0.1 percent to $1,278.21 an ounce by 0020 GMT, after hitting $1,278.74 earlier in the session - the highest since late May.      * Sunni insurgents seized a mainly ethnic Turkmen city in northwestern Iraq on Sunday after heavy fighting, solidifying their grip on the north after a lightning offensive that threatens to dismember Iraq.  
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       * Gold is seen as a safe-haven asset at times of geopolitical uncertainties.      * Hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets in gold futures and options in the week to June 10, their first increase in five weeks, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday.  
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       * Among other precious metals, platinum  
  XPT=
   and palladium  
  XPD=
   gained about 1 percent each on Monday after logging sharp declines last week on easing supply worries.     * The leader of South Africa's AMCU union said on Friday a wage deal with the top three platinum producers was imminent, signalling a possible end to a crippling five-month strike that has disrupted global output of the metal.  
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            MARKET NEWS     * Escalating violence in Iraq drove crude oil prices to nine-month highs on Friday while damping the appetite for risk, even as bullish news from the U.S. tech sector lifted shares on Wall Street and helped buoy stocks in global equity markets.  
  MKTS/GLOB
            DATA/EVENTS (GMT)     0900 Euro zone Inflation final May      1230 U.S. New York Fed manufacturing index June      1315 U.S. Industrial output May      1400 U.S. NAHB housing market index June      PRICES AT 0020 GMT      Metal            Last     Change  Pct chg                                             Spot gold        1278.21    1.71     0.13  Spot silver        19.72    0.06     0.31  Spot platinum     1439.3      15     1.05  Spot palladium    819.75   10.75     1.33  Comex gold        1278.7     4.6     0.36  Comex silver       19.74   0.085     0.43  Euro              1.3536                   DXY               80.609                                                              COMEX gold and silver contracts show the  most active months    (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Ed Davies)  ((ananthalakshmi.as@thomsonreuters.com)(+65 6870 3726)(Reuters Messaging: ananthalakshmi.as.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))  
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