** Australian gold stocks .AXGD fall 1.3% to 15,816 points; set for steepest intraday pct drop since October 28

** Bullion slipped on the day, pressured by stronger dollar as investors dialled back bets for further Fed rate cuts, while easing U.S.-China trade tensions also weighed GOL/

** Sector heavyweights Northern Star Resources NST.AX and Evolution Mining EVN.AX down 1.5% and 2.3%, respectively

** YTD, AXGD up 87.8%

(Reporting by Jasmeen Ara Shaikh in Bengaluru)

((Jasmeenaraislam.Shaikh@thomsonreuters.com;))