Gold was little changed on Wednesday, but hovered near a one-month peak hit in the previous session, with bullion prices moderately supported after Washington dashed hopes for a quick preliminary trade deal with Beijing.   

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was little changed at $1,476.55 per ounce, as of 0143 GMT. In the previous session, prices rose 1% and touched their highest since Nov. 7.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.1% at $1,483.10.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a trade deal with China might have to wait until after the U.S. presidential election in November 2020, having earlier announcing tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina on Monday.                        

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross rejected any deadlines on a trade deal with China and launched a fresh attack on telecoms giant Huawei       

Asian shares extended their losses, while the dollar weakened after market hopes for a preliminary agreement faded.

Heightening tensions with Beijing, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly backed legislation that would require the Trump administration to toughen its response to China's crackdown on its Uighur Muslim minority.            

Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron clashed over the future of NATO before a summit intended to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Western military alliance.           

Gold miner Centamin Plc rejected a 1.47 billion pound ($1.9 billion) all-stock takeover proposal from Canada's Endeavour Mining.            

The Perth Mint's gold product sales in November rose to their highest in a year, while silver sales dropped from a multi-year peak, the refiner said.            

India's gold imports in November jumped 78% from a month earlier to the highest level in five months as jewellers in the world's second-biggest market for the metal restocked after a fall in prices, a government source said.            

Palladium fell 0.2% to $1,852.14 per ounce. Silver shed 0.1% to $17.14 per ounce, while platinum was down 0.2% at $907.47.   

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0500   India IHS Markit Svcs PMI Nov

0850   France Markit Serv, Comp PMIs Nov

0855   Germany Markit Srvices PMI Nov

0855   Germany Markit Comp Final PMI Nov

0900   EU Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs Nov

0930   UK Reserve Assets Total Nov

1445   US Markit Svcs, Comp Final PMIs Nov

(Reporting by Asha Sistla in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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