May 19 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Tuesday as the

dollar weakened and crude oil prices fell after U.S. President

Donald Trump paused a planned attack against Iran, easing

concerns about inflation and prolonged high interest rates.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was steady at $4,565.40 per ounce, as of

0103 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since March 30 in the

previous session.

* U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 0.2% to

$4,567.90.

* The dollar fell, making greenback-priced bullion more

affordable for holders of other currencies.

* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had paused a

planned attack against Iran to allow for negotiations to take

place on a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war, after Iran sent a

new peace proposal to Washington.

* Oil prices fell more than 2% in early Asian trade on hopes

of negotiations to end the war in the Middle East.

* Elevated crude oil prices can stoke inflation, and while

gold is considered a hedge against inflation, higher interest

rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding metal.

* Kevin Warsh will be sworn in as U.S. Federal Reserve chief

on Friday by President Trump, a White House official said on

Monday, putting the financier at the helm of the central bank as

it grapples with intensifying inflation that may make it hard to

push through the interest-rate cuts Trump desires.

* Ghana has asked large-scale gold miners to sell 30% of

annual output to the central bank as part of a revamped

reserve-building drive, up from 20%, a senior official told

Reuters.

* Spot silver fell 0.3% to $77.58 per ounce, platinum

lost 0.2% to $1,976.15, and palladium dropped 0.6%

to $1,409.75.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0200 UK Claimant Count Unem Chng Apr

0200 UK ILO Unemployment Rate Mar

0200 UK HMRC Payrolls Change Apr

0500 EU Total Trade Balance SA Mar

(Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu

Sahu)