BENGALURU, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged higher early on Thursday as the dollar eased amid a spike in risk aversion, while palladium further bolstered its premium over the bullion.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,240.04 per ounce at 0140 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $1,245.7 per ounce.

* Spot palladium was up 0.2 percent at $1,245.50 per ounce.

* Palladium is more valuable than gold for the first time since 2002, with prices soaring by around 50 percent in less than four months to record levels.

* The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was lower about 0.1 percent.

* U.S. stock futures tumbled on Thursday and Asian markets followed after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, fanning fears of further tensions between China and the United States.

* The dollar, which has enjoyed an unrivalled surge against its peers this year, will be undermined in 2019 on increasing concerns about slowing U.S. economic growth, a Reuters poll of foreign exchange strategists showed.

* Tariff-driven price increases have spread more broadly through the U.S. economy, though on balance inflation has risen at a modest pace in most parts of the country, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in its latest report on the economy.

* China expressed confidence on Wednesday that it can reach a trade deal with the United States, a sentiment echoed by U.S. President Donald Trump a day after he warned of more tariffs if the two sides could not resolve their differences.

* Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal came under fire from allies and opponents alike on Wednesday after the government was forced to publish legal advice showing the United Kingdom could be locked indefinitely in the European Union's orbit.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

0700 Germany Industrial orders Oct

1315 U.S. ADP national employment Nov

1330 U.S. International trade Oct

1330 U.S. Weekly jobless claims

1500 U.S. Factory orders Oct

1500 U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI Nov

2345 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gives brief

welcome remarks before the Housing Assistance Council

Rural Housing Conference

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((eileen.soreng@thomsonreuters.com; Within U.S. +1 651 848 5832, Outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6131; Reuters Messaging: eileen.soreng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))