May 13 (Reuters) - Gold prices were steady on Tuesday as a U.S.-China agreement to pause tariffs for at least 90 days lifted risk appetite, diminishing bullion's safe-haven appeal, while investors awaited key U.S. inflation data for further economic cues.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= held its ground at $3,235.37.86 an ounce, as of 0058 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.5% to $3,243.50.

* Global shares rallied after the U.S. and China agreed to slash steep tariffs for at least 90 days. MKTS/GLOB

* After two days of talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two sides agreed to a 90-day pause under which tariffs would fall by over 100 percentage points.

* The U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports last month to 30% from 145% for the next three months, the two sides said, while Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%.

* The dollar strengthened, hovering near one-month high, consequently making greenback-priced gold more expensive for overseas buyers.

* China also agreed to remove export countermeasures implemented after April 2, which include restrictions on rare-earth minerals and magnets commonly used in high tech manufacturing, U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer said in a interview to Fox News.

* Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said the pause on import levies at levels that threatened to shut down bilateral trade reduces chances that the U.S. central bank will need to lower interest rates in response to an economic slowdown.

* Traders are also awaiting U.S. Consumer Price Index report, due later in the day, for fresh signals on the Fed's monetary policy trajectory.

* Market currently pricing in a 55-basis-point rate cut this year by the Fed, starting in September, compared with the July view last week. USDIRPR

* Gold, traditionally considered a safe-haven asset during time of political and economic uncertainty, tends to thrive in low-interest-rate environment.

* Citi Research on Monday downgraded its gold price target for the next three months to $3,150 per ounce and said it expects prices to consolidate amid progress on tariff negotiations.

* Spot silver XAG= eased 0.2% to $32.54 an ounce, platinum XPT= rose 0.6% to $980.05 and palladium XPD= fell 0.7% to $980.05.

DATA/EVENTS $(GMT.NZ)$

0600 UK Claimant Count Unem Chng, HMRC Payrolls Change April

0600 UK ILO Unemployment Rate March

0900 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment, Current Conditions May

1230 US Core CPI MM, SA, YY, NSA April

1230 US CPI MM, SA, YY, NSA, Wage Earner April

(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

((anmol.choubey@thomsonreuters.com;))