* Palladium reaches $617.50 * Robust physical demand supports gold prices * COMING UP: Federal Reserve's Bernanke to speak at 1230 GMT (Recasts, previous SINGAPORE) By Rebekah Curtis LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Gold rose more than one percent on Monday and palladium hit its highest in nearly a decade, as the dollar slumped after weekend comments at the G20 meeting and investors awaited a speech by the Federal Reserve Chairman. Spot palladium rose to $617.50, its highest since mid-2001, from $586.98 an ounce late in New York on Friday. Spot gold rose to $1,345.19 an ounce by 0930 GMT, off the 2-1/2 week low at $1,315.09 hit last Friday and crossing above the 20-day moving average at $1,339.46. It was at $1,326.70 late in New York on Friday. Analysts said the Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers on Saturday pointed to a status quo in currency markets, with the dollar staying pressured due to market expectations for the Federal Reserve to unveil a second round of quantitative easing as early as November. [USD/] "This is to do with the fact that the G20 communique failed to produce anything concrete on the coordinated exchange rates policy," Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst with VTB Capital, said of the dollar's loss and gold's subsequent rise. "There is still a lot of uncertainty about exchange rates... (and)... the size and format of the QE," he added. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was due to speak at 1230 GMT. The dollar fell 0.9 percent versus a major currency basket,, making dollar-priced metals cheaper for non-U.S. investors. The U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 1.5 percent to $1,345.3 an ounce.

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