* Trump to discuss Iran with Xi in U.S.-China summit
* U.S. Producer Price Index posts largest gain in four
years
* U.S. Senate approves Kevin Warsh as Fed chair
(Updates prices)
By Pablo Sinha
May 14 (Reuters) - Gold prices were steady on Thursday,
as investors focused on talks between U.S. President Donald
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and looked for signs of
progress in the Iran war.
Spot gold was steady at $4,689.49 per ounce, as of
0602 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 0.2%
at $4,696.40.
"Gold seems to be consolidating at the moment as everybody
is looking at what's going to happen in the high-level talks
between the U.S. and China," said GoldSilver Central Managing
Director Brian Lan.
"(Gold) is a bit downward-biased and I think that is also a
window for investors who are looking to come into the metal,"
Lan added.
Trump heads into a series of meetings with Xi in Beijing,
aiming to secure economic wins, maintain a fragile trade truce
and navigate thorny issues such as the Middle East conflict.
Trump is expected to seek China's help to resolve the costly
and unpopular conflict, which he launched with Israel in late
February, but analysts say he is unlikely to get the support he
wants.
Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. producer prices posted
their biggest increase in four years in April, boosted by
soaring costs for goods and services, the latest sign of
accelerating inflation.
The U.S. Senate approved Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal
Reserve as the U.S. central bank grapples with intensifying
inflation that may make it hard to push through the
interest-rate cuts that Trump has demanded.
Traders have largely priced out a Fed rate cut this year,
with markets now seeing a 28% chance of a hike by December,
according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
While gold is considered a hedge against inflation, higher
interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding metal.
Meanwhile, gold discounts in India widened to a record of
more than $200 an ounce on Wednesday, as a surge in prices after
an import duty hike triggered investor selling in an already
weak demand environment, bullion dealers told Reuters.
Spot silver fell 0.9% to $87.19 per ounce, platinum
fell 0.2% to $2,133.35, and palladium was up 0.1%
at $1,501.25.