US MIDDAY: Gold rebounds

Gold on Tuesday pared losses to scale a one-week peak as Wall Street eased from record highs on US political uncertainties and somber earnings, while markets awaited more cues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Spot gold edged up 0.3% to $1,474.65 per ounce as of 1:48 p.m. ET (1848 GMT) after touching its highest since Nov. 7. US gold futures settled 0.2% higher at $1,474.30 an ounce.

"For people trading gold they want more insight to the path forward and where the Fed is at. With equities trading lower, gold is getting a little bit of a lift based off that," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

Financial markets eased as underwhelming earnings and concerns on the ongoing impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump overshadowed hopes for a US-China trade deal.

Earlier in the session, Washington granted an extension for US companies to continue doing business with China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a move markets took as a sign of progressing US-China trade relations.

"The fact that gold has been stable within an environment with equity markets driving to new highs ... is a testament that there is still interest in safe haven assets," David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures said, attributing it to concerns about economic growth and lingering doubts about a trade deal.

In the previous session, a report that Beijing was not as optimistic about a deal, owing to Trump's reluctance to roll back tariffs, had pushed gold into positive territory.

However, assumptions that a "phase one" trade deal could be reached soon outweighed any creeping doubts, with gold shedding about 2.5% so far this month. Market participants were now awaiting the minutes from the Fed's latest policy meeting, where the US central bank had cut interest rates for the third time this year. Other precious metal prices rose, with silver gaining 0.8% to $17.16 per ounce, platinum rose 1.8% to $910.15 and palladium climbed 1.9% to $1,770.44 an ounce.