* Market focus turns to Fed leadership
* Gold seen consolidating at $1,275-$1,285 -trader
* Palladium expected to keep outperforming -analyst (Updates prices; adds comment, NEW YORK dateline)
By Renita D. Young and Eric Onstad
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Gold prices dipped on Tuesday as investors anxiously awaited news on the next head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, while strong share markets and a calmer geopolitical environment sapped safe-haven demand.
"People are going into the equity markets and taking off their safe-haven plays," said Phillip Streible, senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago.
Gold futures may remain weak until Friday's U.S. gross domestic product figures are released, he added.
Spot gold XAU= down 0.4 percent at $1,276.73 an ounce by 2:28 p.m. EDT (1828 GMT), after hitting its lowest since Oct. 6 at $1,271.86 in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for December delivery settled down $2.60, or 0.2 percent, at $1,278.30 per ounce.
Spot gold has shed 6 percent since touching a one-year high of $1,357.54 on Sept. 8, largely due to a rebound in the dollar on expectations that the Fed will boost interest rates in December.
"We'll probably consolidate around $1,275-$1,285 until some Fed news comes out," said a Hong Kong-based trader.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday he was "very, very close" to making his decision on who should chair the U.S. central bank. a hawkish candidate is chosen, gold futures would most likely come under renewed pressure," Streible said.
A hawkish candidate would be expected to favor higher interest rates, boosting the value of the dollar and making greenback-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The Fed is expected to raise rates in December and twice next year, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who now worry that the central bank will slow its tightening because of expectations that inflation will remain low. 47-country world share index .MIWD00000PUS hovered near its recent all-time highs after a drop in General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares on Wall Street had seen the ViX volatility index .VIX spike up. XAG= fell 0.6 percent to $16.94 an ounce, after hitting its lowest since Oct. 9 in the previous session.
Platinum XPT= was up 0.4 percent at $924.40 an ounce while palladium XPD= was up 0.60 percent at $965 per ounce.
"I think there's still belief in the market that palladium can continue to outperform," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.
"If we see the (palladium-platinum) spread widen above $50 then we could probably see another extension up towards the $75 area."
Palladium has more than doubled in value since touching a 5-1/2-year low in January last year while platinum has gained only 15 percent in the same period.