PRECIOUS-Gold rises on stronger Fed rate cut bets, weaker dollar

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Delayed US retail sales report due on Tuesday

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Traders see 76% chance of US interest rate cut next month

(Rewrites for US morning trading)

By Pablo Sinha

Nov 24 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Monday, supported by growing expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next month and a weaker dollar. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $4,081.52 per ounce, as of 09:12 a.m. ET (1412 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery were flat at $4,079.30 per ounce. The dollar index inched lower, making dollar-priced bullion more affordable for holders of other currencies.

"The market is increasingly getting convinced that the U.S. Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates in December," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

"A combination of lower rate (expectations) and a weaker U.S. dollar has helped gold in this environment," Melek added. New York Fed President John Williams on Friday said U.S. interest rates could fall "in the near term" without putting the Fed's inflation goal at risk, while helping guard against a slide in the job market. Bets of a rate cut next month stand at 76%, the CME FedWatch tool showed. Gold, a non-yielding asset, tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments, and during geopolitical instability.

Investors are looking out for key economic data which were delayed due to the government shutdown, including U.S. retail sales, jobless claims and producer price figures due later this week.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Ukraine continued talks on Monday to craft an acceptable plan to end the war with Russia, after agreeing to revise an earlier U.S. proposal that many viewed as overly favorable to Moscow.

"With the Fed debate taking more headlines and geopolitical swings, especially vis-?-vis Ukraine, (gold) is still likely to catch a bid but in our view, it remains range bound between $4,000 and $4,100," Rhona O'Connell, an analyst at StoneX, said in a note. Spot silver added 0.5% at $50.24 per ounce, platinum rose 1.1% to $1,528.01, while palladium rose 0.8% to $1,385.85. (Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru Editing by Nick Zieminski)