PRECIOUS-Gold rebounds on Fed cut expectations; silver hits record high

*

Gold fell 1% on Tuesday

*

89% chance of Fed rate cut in December - CME FedWatch

*

Trump says plan to announce Fed Chair pick early next year

(Updates with comments for Asia morning session)

By Ishaan Arora

Dec 3 (Reuters) - Gold regained ground on Wednesday as investors clung to expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut, with a raft of U.S. data this week to set the course for monetary policy, while silver vaulted to a record high.

Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,222.19 per ounce, as of 0358 GMT, after falling nearly 1% in the previous session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.8% at $4,253.90 per ounce.

"We've seen some profit-taking for gold and moves into crypto or equity, so we should see a return which is quite normal, especially with high chances of a rate cut as we approach the end of the year," GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan said.

U.S. rate futures now price an 89% chance of a rate cut next week, up from 85% a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Recent U.S. data showing a slight economic slowdown has reinforced expectations of a Fed rate cut at the December 9-10 meeting, with major brokerages upping their wagers on easing.

Non-yielding gold tends to perform well in low-interest-rate environments.

Investors are also focused on key data scheduled for this week, including November ADP employment figures on Wednesday and the delayed September Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he plans to announce his pick to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair early next year.

Central banks bought 53 tons of gold in October, up 36% month-on-month and the largest monthly net demand since the start of 2025, according to the World Gold Council.

Silver rose 0.8% to hit a fresh record high of $58.94/oz.

"Silver is rising on physical shortages as we've seen COMEX inventories, and China inventories are depleting. So we believe that the fundamentals of silver are also are very bullish," said Kunal Shah, head of research, Nirmal Bang Commodities, Mumbai.

Elsewhere, platinum lost 0.1% to $1,636.10, while palladium gained 0.1% to $1,463.43. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Harikrishnan Nair)