© Reuters. PRECIOUS-Gold lingers near $1,500/oz on trade, recession concerns Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Monday hovered around the $1,500 per ounce level as the U.S.-China trade conflict dragged on, while fears of a global economic slowdown increased.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= was steady at $1,496.99 per ounce as of 0114 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 too were flat at $1,508.50 an ounce.

* Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) on Sunday said recession risks were increasing due to the Sino-U.S. trade war, and cut its forecast for fourth-quarter U.S. growth. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not ready to make a deal with China and even called a September round of trade talks into question. Subsequently, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that the U.S. was still planning to hold another round of trade talks with Chinese negotiators. Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish stance in COMEX gold in the week to Aug. 6, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday. Physical gold demand in Asian hubs last week was quiet due to surging prices. The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was nearly unchanged. USD/

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

* 1230 Brazil IBC-BR Economic Activity June (approx. time)

PRECIOUS-Gold lingers near $1,500/oz on trade, recession concerns