Nov 29 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Wednesday as
the reaction to North Korea's latest missile test was muted,
while palladium hovered near the 17-year peak touched in the
previous session.  
            
    FUNDAMENTALS    
    * Spot gold        was little changed at $1,294.12 an ounce
at 0113 GMT. 
    * U.S. gold futures         were down 0.1 percent at
$1,293.60. 
    * Palladium dipped 0.2 percent at $1,024.99 an ounce, after
hitting its highest since February 2001 at $1,028.70 in the
previous session. 
    * North Korea fired what appeared to be an intercontinental
ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed close to Japan, officials
said, with some scientists cautioning that Washington, D.C.
could now theoretically be within range of Pyongyang's weapons.
            
    * President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United
States "will take care of" the North Korea issue after its
latest missile launch, and that the basic U.S. approach to
dealing with Pyongyang will not change.             
    * The dollar gained against the yen on Wednesday, lifted by
strong U.S. economic data, while the North's missile launch had
little immediate impact on currency markets though investors are
focused on how the U.S. responds to the test.       
    * U.S. consumer confidence surged to a near 17-year high in
November, driven by a robust labor market, while house prices
rose sharply in September, which should underpin consumer
spending and boost economic growth.             
    * U.S. Senate Republicans rammed forward Trump's tax cut
bill on Tuesday in an abrupt, partisan committee vote that set
up a full vote by the Senate as soon as Thursday, although some
details of the measure remained unsettled.             
    * Jerome Powell, Trump's choice to lead the U.S. Federal
Reserve, defended plans to potentially lighten regulation of the
financial sector during a controversy-free hearing on his
nomination to take over the central bank.             
    * Congress is likely to miss a Dec. 8 deadline for passing
legislation funding a wide range of federal government programs
through Sept. 30, 2018, kicking the contentious debate into next
year, a senior U.S. House of Representatives aide said on
Tuesday.             
    * Asian shares rose on Wednesday after Wall Street shot to
record peaks amid signs of progress on U.S. tax cuts, upbeat
economic data and bank-friendly comments from the would-be head
of the Federal Reserve.            
   
    DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)
    0745  France Consumer spending             Oct
    1000  Euro zone Business climate           Nov
    1300  Germany Consumer prices              Nov
    1330  U.S. GDP 2nd estimate                Q3
    1500  U.S. Pending homes sales             Oct
    1900  U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book on economic condition 
  

 (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by
Amrutha Gayathri)