* Dollar gains on report that U.S. preparing more Chinesetariffs
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust rise to highest in 2 months
* Gold on track to post biggest monthly gain since Jan
* Silver eases to lowest in nearly three weeks (Updates prices)By Swati VermaBENGALURU, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Gold slipped on Tuesday as thedollar benefited from concerns about an escalating trade disputebetween the United States and China, leaving the metal near keytechnical levels that might prompt fresh speculative bets forprices to fall further.Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,225.97 an ounceat 1344 GMT, having earlier touched $1,219.37, its lowest sinceOct. 18. U.S. gold futures were steady at $1,227.70 anounce.The dollar rose to a 2-1/2 month high versus a basket ofother major currencies after Bloomberg reportedWashington was preparing to announce tariffs on all remainingChinese imports by early December if talks next month betweenU.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinpingfail to ease the trade war."The dollar's appreciation is not helping gold and thegeneral movement down appears to be related to increasedspeculation about further moves by the Trump administration inrelation to tariffs," said Capital Economics analyst RossStrachan.Gold prices have slipped around 10 percent from their Aprilpeak after investors turned to the dollar as a safe-haven, asthe U.S.-China trade war unfolded against a background of higherU.S. interest rates.
A firmer dollar makes gold more expensive for holders ofother currencies.On the technical front, gold was testing support at the100-day moving average around $1,220."If we drop back below the 100-day moving average,speculators could be inclined to add short positions again afterthey slashed them massively in the last 2-3 trading weeks. Therecould be risk that we could drop towards $1,200 again," saidCommerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch. Gold prices have gained about 2.8 percent this month and areon track to break a six-month losing streak, the longest since adownturn that ran from the start of August 1996 to the end ofJanuary 1997."Recession worries have increased recently. Going forward afalling unemployment rate in the U.S. and continued tradetensions should keep these concerns elevated," Goldman Sachssaid in a note.The bank said it expects a slowdown in U.S. growth and apick-up in U.S. core inflation, which could make the U.S.economy look increasingly like it is entering a late-cycleinflation overshoot and further support gold investment. Investors' inclination towards gold can be seen in theholdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF),New York's SPDR Gold Trust , which rose to their highest intwo months, at 24.27 million ounces, on Monday. In other precious metals, silver rose 0.4 percent at$14.51 per ounce, after hitting a near three-week low of $14.33earlier.Platinum gained 0.8 percent at $838.60 per ounce, andpalladium was down 0.5 percent at $1,083.34 per ounce. (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potterand Hugh Lawson)
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