PRECIOUS-Gold falls on rising risk appetite as N.Korea tensions ease

BENGALURU - 15 August 2017: Gold prices fell on Tuesday as easing tensions between the United States and North Korea pushed investors to seek riskier assets such as equities.

Spot gold was down 0.6 percent at $1,274.31 per ounce as of 0626 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery

shed 0.8 percent to $1,280.10 per ounce. "It is safe to say that the safe-haven demand is badly quelled," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets. "The Asian markets are poised to build on this momentum." Asian shares rallied and the dollar firmed, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would watch the actions of the United States for a while longer before making a decision on firing missiles towards U.S. Pacific territory Guam.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis however warned on Monday that its military would be prepared to intercept a missile fired "...the latest comments by the U.S. defence secretary has upped the ante somewhat...So the latest pullback in the gold price doesn't mean that the bulls are out of energy," Aslam said. Geopolitical risks can boost demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen, which tends to gain in times of crisis on assumptions that Japanese investors will repatriate assets. "Safe haven flows into the yen and gold has fallen a little bit because of improved risk appetite in the market," said OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan. "Some risk aversion is taken off the table simply because some concerns of the North Korean attack has eased." Also weighing on the yellow metal was the prospect of another increase in U.S. interest rates this year, with one influential Federal Reserve member backing the move.

Spot gold may fall more to $1,267 per ounce, as it has broken a support at $1,278, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. Meanwhile, holdings of the world's largest gold-backed

exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , rose 0.53 percent

to 791.01 tonnes on Monday.

Silver fell 1 percent to $16.84 per ounce. Platinum was down 0.6 percent to $959.60 after

earlier touching its lowest in a week.

Palladium dipped nearly 0.2 percent to $893.50.