Gold prices rose on Wednesday on heightened worries that a Sino-U.S. trade deal could hit a snag after President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on Beijing and as the U.S. Senate passed a bill supporting Hong Kong anti-government protesters.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= rose 0.2% to $1,474.42 per ounce at 0144 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 was little changed at $1,474.80 per ounce.

* The United States would raise tariffs on Chinese imports if no deal is reached with Beijing to end a trade war, Trump said on Tuesday.

* The U.S. Senate, in a unanimous vote, passed legislation on Tuesday aimed at protecting human rights in Hong Kong amid China's crackdown on a pro-democracy protest movement that has gripped the vital financial centre for months. The move was condemned by Beijing. 

* Anti-government protesters holed up in a Hong Kong university searched for escape routes on Tuesday after more than two days of clashes with police, dramatic breakouts by rope and motorcycle and more than 1,000 arrests in 24 hours. 

* Asian shares lumbered lower on Wednesday as the trade talks produced nothing but a stream of conflicting messages.

* The dollar and the safe-haven yen found support as a lack of clarity on the talks kept investors cautious ahead of the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last policy meeting. 

* Wall street got hit on Tuesday after senior U.S. officials told impeachment investigators in Congress that they were concerned by President Trump's effort to get Ukraine to investigate a political rival, with one White House official calling it a "shock."

* The U.S. Fed has interest rates at the appropriate level for the U.S. economy but risks to the economic outlook are still tilted downwards, New York Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday. 

* Elsewhere, silver XAG= edged up 0.1% to $17.15 per ounce, palladium XPD= fell 0.3% to $1,757.46 per ounce and platinum XPT= declined 0.3%, to $907.72 per ounce.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0700 Germany Producer Prices MM, YY Oct 1900 US Federal Open Market Committee will release

the minutes from its October 29-30 policy meeting

(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V) ((Diptendu.Lahiri@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 651 848 5832; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 3683;; Reuters Messaging: diptendu.lahiri.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))