PRECIOUS-Gold at its highest level in two weeks; Trade discussions hope that risk appetite

Feb 18 (Reuters) – The price of gold remained steady at its highest level in two weeks on Monday, as the dollar fell slightly, while equities rose against rising expectations of a year ago. trade agreement between the United States and China, limiting Bullion's gains.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.1% to $ 1.321.69 per ounce at 0037 GMT. The metal hit a 9-month high of $ 1,326.3 an ounce on January 31.

* Gold futures in the US increased 0.2% to $ 1,324.9 ounce.

* The dollar index, an indicator of its value against six major peers, remained stable at 96.91.

* The United States and China will resume their trade talks in Washington this week with little time to ease their deadly trade war, but US President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that it could extend the deadline of 1 March for an agreement and maintain tariffs on Chinese products. to get up.

* China's official Xinhua news agency said on Friday that the world's two largest economies had reached a "principled consensus" on some key issues, adding that they had had a detailed discussion on a memorandum of understanding on trade and economic issues. This did not give any details.

* Meanwhile, Trump said Friday a national emergency to try to fund the wall he had promised at the US-Mexico border without Congressional approval, action that Democrats pledged to challenge as a violation of the American Constitution.

* California will "imminently" challenge President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to secure funding for a US-Mexican border wall, state attorney general Xavier Becerra said Sunday .

* Great Britain Theresa May plans to address all EU leaders and the head of the European Commission to request changes to her EU withdrawal agreement several days after her new defeat of the EU from its own legislator and while companies are preparing for a Brexit without agreement on March 29.

* Rising domestic prices reduced gold physical demand in India and Japan last week, interest in weak precious metals in other Asian centers as markets gradually returned from lunar New Year holidays .

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.48% to 793.03 tonnes on Friday from 796.85 tonnes on Thursday.

* Palladium spot prices jumped on Friday to reach an all-time high of $ 1,434.50, touched on Jan. 17, driven by expectations of a growing market deficit this year.

* In Zimbabwe, rescuers removed the bodies of at least 22 illegal gold miners from wells in western Harare flooded earlier in the week and rescued eight other people still alive, Saturday announced officials and witnesses. (Report by Karthika Suresh Namboothiri in Bengaluru, edited by Richard Pullin)