* Palladium hits record high, insight of parity with gold
* Gold drifts away from one-month low hit on Tuesday
* Silver moves up from multi-year lows of previous session
(Updates prices)
By Swati Verma and Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Gold hit a near one-week peak
on Thursday as investors sought cover from market turmoil after
Britain's long-awaited draft agreement to leave the European
Union was thrown into chaos, helping the metal hold its ground
against a rising dollar.
British Prime Minister Theresa May battled to save a draft
divorce deal with the EU after her Brexit secretary and other
ministers quit in protest and eurosceptic lawmakers stepped up
efforts to topple her.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,214.79 per ounce
at 13:35 p.m. EST (1835 GMT) after touching its highest since
Nov. 9 at $1,216.27 earlier in the session and moving away from
a one-month low of $1,195.90 hit on Tuesday.
U.S. gold futures settled up $4.90, or 0.40 percent,
at $1,215 per ounce.
"Uncertainty around Brexit is the biggest factor right now.
It's becoming top of the news again," said Michael Matousek,
head trader at U.S. Global Investors.
"People are running to the safety of the hard assets such as
commodities including gold and crude, and also the dollar. ...
If gold can hold above the $1,209 level, we could see it rise to
$1,235."
The dollar held its gains versus a basket of
currencies as data showed a stronger-than-expected increase in
domestic retail sales in October.
The currency has emerged as a dominant safe-haven asset this
year, denting the appeal for gold, which has fallen 11 percent
from an April peak, against the backdrop of a U.S.-China trade
row and rising U.S. interest rates.
"Geo-political risk remains high ... it should support gold
and lead to gains into year-end and in 2019. This is seen in the
political turmoil today and increased uncertainty regarding the
outlook for Brexit," said Mark O'Byrne, research director of
Dublin-based gold dealer GoldCore.
On the technical front, while gold could test resistance at
$1,235 and $1,250 before year-end, it is vulnerable to
short-term weakness, he added.
The trade war shows signs of possibly easing, with U.S.
President Donald Trump expected to meet Chinese President Xi
Jinping at a G20 summit in Argentina this month.
Palladium jumped more than 4 percent to hit a record
high of $1,178.30 per ounce. The metal, used mainly in
emissions-reducing autocatalysts for vehicles, was $35 away from
achieving parity with gold.
"There seems to be good demand (for palladium) from electric
cars and diesel engines in Europe and China," said George Gero,
managing director at RBC Wealth Management. "Palladium is in
shorter supply than people realized."
Silver was up 1.3 percent at $14.31 per ounce. It
fell to $13.85 in the previous session, a level last seen on
Jan. 21, 2016.
Platinum was up 1.1 percent at $843.50 an ounce.
(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru
Editing by Susan Thomas and Richard Chang)