Gold dips as dollar firms

RIYADH, Dec 01 (Reuters): Gold fell on Friday as the dollar strengthened ahead of trade talks between the US and Chinese leaders at the G20 summit over the weekend, while palladium prices crossed the $1,200 per ounce mark for the first time.

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will be meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina to discuss the ongoing trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies.

Spot gold eased 0.17 per cent to $1,221.50 per ounce at 12:24 p.m. EST (1724 GMT). US gold futures slipped 0.24 per cent to $1,221.20 an ounce.

"The dollar index has moved to its daily high and the US stock market is bouncing back and that is also working against gold," said Kitco Metals senior analyst Jim Wyckoff.

A big price movement is unlikely in gold for the rest of the session "unless there is some kind of a major announcement from out of Buenos Aires from G20," he added.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, recouped losses, having touched a near one-week low in the previous session, as markets awaited the outcome of the talks.