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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 for Asia session open)

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 five

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

frictions and expectations of more rate cuts sent investors

flocking to the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold was up 0.3% at $4,336.18 per ounce, as of

0233 GMT, after reaching a fresh high of $4,378.69 earlier in

the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery

jumped 1% to $4,348.70.

Bullion has risen about 8% so far this week in what would be

its best week since March 2020, notching a record high in each

session.

Spot silver fell 0.7% to $53.86 per ounce, but stayed

on track for a 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 target perhaps sooner

than expected, 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, 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 Oct. 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 65%

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

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

exchange-trade 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 0.7% to $1,701.0 and palladium

lost 0.4% to $1,607.93. Both metals were headed for weekly

gains.

(Reporting by Anmol Choubey and Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru;

Editing by Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu)