PRECIOUS-Gold gains on soft yields; focus on Trump-Zelenskiy meeting

(Updates for European session trading)

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Treasury yields slip from more than two-week high

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Zelenskiy flies to Washington on Monday to meet Trump

By Ishaan Arora

Aug 18 (Reuters) -

Gold prices eked out gains on Monday, helped by lower U.S. Treasury yields, while market players awaited

U.S. President Donald Trump

's

meeting

with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders later in the day.

Spot gold gained 0.4% to $3,348.28 per ounce, as of 0840 GMT on Monday, after hitting its lowest level since August 1. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.3% to $3,393.40.

"The firm tone to gold prices has returned today with the market nudging the $3,350 level (as) the combination of soft yields and a weaker dollar would for sure create a tailwind for gold," said independent analyst Ross Norman.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell from more than two-week highs.

On the geopolitical front, European leaders are set to join Zelenskiy for

talks with Trump

later on Monday to discuss how to approach a possible deal to end the

war

between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia would relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine and Kyiv would cede swathes of its eastern land which Moscow has been unable to capture, under peace proposals discussed by Russia's Vladimir Putin and Trump at their Alaska summit on Friday, sources briefed on Moscow's thinking said.

"Front-running the geopolitical news would be unwise just now given that almost any outcome is conceivable. If there was a sense that tensions over Ukraine were easing, then we might expect some modest softness in gold prices," Norman added.

Investors are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for more cues on Fed's interest rate path.

Economists polled by Reuters largely expect the Fed to announce a rate cut in September, its first this year, with a possible second cut by year-end.

Non-yielding bullion, considered a safe-haven asset during periods of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, tends to perform well in a low-interest-rate environment.

Elsewhere, spot silver was up 0.2% at $38.08 per ounce, platinum was steady at $1,335.06 and palladium was up 0.6% at $1,118.92. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; editing by Mark Heinrich)