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U.S. regional bank credit concerns spook investors

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China accuses U.S. of causing panic on export controls

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Fed Governor Waller voices support for interest rate cut

(Updates prices for the Asia mid-session trade)

By Ishaan Arora and Anmol Choubey

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Gold notched a new high above $4,300

an ounce on Friday and was poised for its best week in over 17

years, as signs of weakness in U.S. regional banks, global trade

frictions, and further rate-cut hopes pushed investors to the

safe-haven metal.

Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,362.39 per ounce, as of

0439 GMT, after scaling another record high of $4,378.69

earlier. U.S. gold futures for December delivery jumped

1.7% to $4,375.50.

Bullion has risen about 8.6% this week and is headed for its

best week since September 2008, notching a record high in each

session.

Spot silver rose 0.3% to $54.41 per ounce, set for an

8.2% weekly gain. Earlier in the session, prices reached a

record high of $54.35, tracking the rally in gold and a short

squeeze in the spot market.

"(For gold) $4,500 could arrive as a sooner-than-expected

target, but much may depend upon how long concerns about

U.S.-China trade and the government shutdown linger over the

market for," said KCM Trade Chief Market Analyst Tim Waterer.

China levelled fresh accusations against the U.S. of causing

panic over its rare earth controls, while rejecting calls to

reverse export curbs.

Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller

voiced support for another rate cut due to labour market

concerns.

Investors are expecting a 25-basis-point reduction at the

Fed's October 29-30 meeting and another reduction in December.

Elsewhere, Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, with signs

of weakness in regional banks spooking investors already on edge

over U.S.-China trade tensions.

"The flare-up in U.S. regional bank credit concerns has

given traders one more reason to buy gold," Waterer said.

Non-yielding bullion, which tends to do well in a low

interest rate environment, has gained more than 66%

year-to-date, driven by geopolitical tensions, aggressive

rate-cut bets, central bank buying, de-dollarisation and robust

exchange-traded-fund inflows,

On the geopolitical front, U.S. President Donald Trump and

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to another

summit on the war in Ukraine.

Western nations continued to pressure Russia over its oil

sales, with Britain imposing sanctions on major Russian oil

firms.

Platinum fell 0.4% to $1,706.45 and palladium

rose 0.3% to $1,618.95. Both metals were headed for weekly

gains.

(Reporting by Anmol Choubey and Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru;

Editing by Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu)