May 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched up on Friday, after falling more-than 1% in the previous session, as rising concerns over U.S.-China relations weighed on risk appetite, although the metal still looked to be headed for a weekly loss.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= climbed 0.1% to $1,727.43 per ounce by 0029 GMT, but was down about 0.8% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.3% to $1,727.00.
* Asian shares were set to fall, tracking global equities that dropped after Beijing's plan to impose a new national security legislation on Hong Kong drew a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump. MKTS/GLOB
* Underscoring the novel coronavirus' economic impact, initial claims for state unemployment benefits in the United States totalled a seasonally adjusted 2.438 million in the week ended May 16. U.S. economic data is likely to become grimmer as the effects of the pandemic become clearer, and it is difficult to know what the recovery could look like, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams (NYSE:WMB) said. China will not to set an economic growth target for 2020 due to the pandemic and global uncertainties, a Bloomberg TV journalist said in a tweet, citing a Bloomberg News report. British consumer confidence in early-May fell to its joint-lowest level since the global financial crisis, despite moves by the government to start loosening its lockdown, a survey showed. Gold is seen as a safe-haven asset during political and economic uncertainties.
* Palladium XPD= gained 0.3% to $2,020.11 per ounce, while platinum XPT= rose 0.4% to $835.31. Both the auto-catalyst metals were looking to post their best week since end-March.
* Silver XAG= climbed 0.2% to $17.09 and was set to rise for a third straight week. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 UK Retail Sales MM, YY
April 0600 UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM April