Gold inched up to its highest in more than 1-1/2 weeks on Tuesday, as fresh doubts about a trade deal between the United States and China dented appetite for riskier assets.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,473.04 per ounce by 0105 GMT. It had hit the highest level since Nov.7 at $1,475.40.
* U.S. gold futures edged up 0.2% to $1,474.10 per ounce.
* Citing a government source, CNBC reported that Beijing was pessimistic about a trade deal with the United States, troubled by President Donald Trump's comments that there was no agreement on rollback of tariffs.
* Asian shares started Tuesday softer as another day awaiting clearer news on the progress of trade negotiations between the two major economies weighed on jaded investors'
sentiment.
* The United States is gravely concerned about deepening political unrest and violence in Hong Kong, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, urging the city's government to tackle public concerns and China to honour its promises of liberties.

* China's top legislature said Hong Kong courts had no power to rule on the constitutionality of legislation under the Asian financial hub's Basic Law, which includes a proposed ban on face masks, state news agency Xinhua said.
* The dollar held close to a two-week low, with demand hurt by receding hopes for a preliminary trade truce.
* Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met at the White House on Monday, "to discuss the economy, growth, employment and inflation", two days before the Fed is set to
release the minutes of the year's last policy meeting.

* Canadian miner Barrick Gold Corp is keen to top its $1.5 billion target for asset sales after shedding its half of the Super Pit gold mine in Western Australia, Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said.
* SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.56% to 891.79 tonnes on Monday from 896.77 tonnes on Friday.
* Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the bank would keep its monetary policy bias towards additional easing, in view of overseas risks that cloud the economic outlook.
* Elsewhere, silver gained 0.2% to $17.05 an ounce, while palladium fell 0.4% to $1,730.17 an ounce. Platinum inched up 0.1% to $894.80.

 (Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Uttaresh.V)