Spot gold had gained 0.3 percent to $1,324.80 per ounce by 0324 GMT, just below a 9-month peak of $1,326.30 an ounce marked on Jan. 31.
U.S. gold futures rose 0.4 percent to $1,327.8 an ounce.
· "Alleviation of risks around the trade talks has certainly benefited the markets," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes, adding that signs of progress in the discussions had reduced appetite for the dollar, which has been supporting gold.
· The dollar was marginally weaker on Monday, as increasing expectations of a U.S.-Sino trade deal led investors to shift away from the safety of the greenback, which had been the preferred safe-haven during the trade dispute.
The United States and China will resume trade talks this week in Washington with time running short to ease their bruising trade war, but U.S. President Donald Trump repeated on Friday that he may extend a March 1 deadline for a deal and keep tariffs on Chinese goods from rising.
Spot gold prices have risen about 3.3 percent so far this year on hopes that the world's two largest economies will hammer out a truce and on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will pause its cycle of interest rate hikes.
· Minutes of the Fed's January policy meeting are due on Wednesday and should provide more guidance on the likelihood or not for rate hikes this year.
· "Looser monetary policies are generally favourable to gold, which has benefited since the Fed paused its tightening path," said Nicholas Frappell, global general manager, ABC Bullion.
"The market will be looking closely at U.S. and China data and I think gold will target a retest of the $1,326 level again."
Meanwhile, palladium hit a record high of $1,449 an ounce and stayed in a broad $20 range in early trade.
· "In combination with supply-side issues, the market is going to be in a sizeable deficit this year ... potential for better-than-expected demand from China will exacerbate that tightness," ANZ's Hynes added.
Seventeen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. There were 13 votes, or 76%, calling for higher prices. There were two votes each, or 12%, for both lower and sideways.
Meanwhile, 455 respondents took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 244 voters, or 54%, called for gold to rise. Another 115, or 25%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 96 voters, or 21%, see a sideways market.
In the last survey, 73% of Wall Street and 55% of Main Street was bullish on gold for the current week. As of 10:51 a.m. EST, Comex April gold futures were trading 80 cents softer for the week so far to $1,317.70 an ounce.
“I think we are getting ready to head towards $1,350 per ounce by next week,” said Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at trading house MKS (Switzerland) SA. “So any retracement lower would be a good opportunity to buy, in my opinion.”
Sean Lusk, director of commercial hedging with Walsh Trading, looks for gold to remain in an uptrend amid geopolitical uncertainty over issues such as U.S.-China trade negotiations and reports that President Donald Trump is going to declare an emergency in an effort to fund his border wall. He also cites gold’s ability to hold a number of lows lately just above the $1,300 level.
“From a technical standpoint, we should start to run here,” Lusk said.
· GOLD strong buy because its strong up trend . 1304 price strong buy price and last analysis already called buy. so this analysis see that same position after break high and wait for retrace and go for long and our final target 1345.00
· Platinum rose 0.4 percent to $805.50 per ounce, near two-week high. Silver was up 0.2 percent at $15.80 per ounce.
Reference: Reuters,Investing,Kitco
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