PRECIOUS-Gold, silver ease as investors book profits

Dec 18 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Thursday following last session's 1% rise and silver fell from a record high after breaching the $65-mark as profit-taking and a firmer dollar took hold ahead of key U.S. inflation data later in the week.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= lost 0.4% to $4,324.59 an ounce by 01:46 GMT, after rising more than 1% late on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.4% to $4,356.4.

* Spot silver XAG= fell 0.7% to $65.78 an ounce, after touching an all-time high of $66.88 in the previous session.

* Silver has gained 129% year-to-date, outpacing gold, which has logged a 65% annual rise.

* The dollar held gains on the day, after touching a near one-week high previously.USD/

* On Tuesday, data showed that the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, surpassing a Reuters poll of economists' estimate of 4.4%, the highest since September 2021.

* Weakness in the labour market could raise the chances of rate cuts next year, benefitting non-yielding assets like gold.

* Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered its third and final quarter-point rate cut of the year. Investors are now pricing in two 25-basis-point cuts in 2026. FEDWATCH

* Investors now await November's Consumer Price Index due later in the day, and the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index on Friday.

* Fed Governor Christopher Waller, on the short list to succeed Chair Jerome Powell next year and scheduled to be interviewed for the job by U.S. President Donald Trump later in the day, said he would "absolutely" defend the central bank's independence if it were challenged.

* Elsewhere, Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro's government, adding to safe-haven demand.

* Platinum XPT= rose 2.5% to $1,946.50, a more than 17-year high. Palladium XPD= added 0.2% to $1,650.75.

(Reporting by Ishaan Arora; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Ishaan.Arora@thomsonreuters.com;))