BENGALURU, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Gold prices held firm on Thursday after notching up their biggest daily percentage gain in nearly two weeks in the previous session, with the dollar easing on dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= had inched up 0.1 percent to $1,221.73 per ounce by 0127 GMT. Prices gained about 0.6 percent on Wednesday, their biggest one-day percentage gain since Nov. 16.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were down 0.2 percent at $1,221.6 per ounce.
* The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped about 0.6 percent on Wednesday, its steepest percentage decline since Nov. 1. USD/
* Powell injected investors with a strong dose of optimism on Wednesday, saying that the central bank's policy rate is now "just below" estimates of a level that neither brakes nor boosts a healthy U.S. economy, comments that many investors read as signaling the Fed's three-year tightening cycle is drawing to a close. The U.S. economy slowed in the third quarter as previously reported, but the pace was likely strong enough to keep growth on track to hit the Trump administration's 3 percent target this year, even as momentum appears to have moderated further early in the fourth quarter. Britain risks suffering an even bigger hit to its economy than during the global financial crisis 10 years ago if it leaves the European Union in a worst-case Brexit scenario in four months' time, the Bank of England said on Wednesday. Palladium XPD= was down 0.3 percent at $1,180.70 per ounce after surging to a record-high of $1,186.30 in the previous session.
* The global platinum market will be oversupplied by around half a million ounces both this year and next, an industry report said on Wednesday, suggesting little respite for producers facing prices languishing near 10-year lows. AHEAD (GMT)
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