· Gold prices fell on Friday as risk appetite was whetted by comments from White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow that the United States is nearing an interim trade pact with China.
Spot gold declined 0.4% to $1,465.77 per ounce at 0415 GMT, but was still set to rise more than 0.5% this week.
U.S. gold futures were down 0.5% at $1,466.30 an ounce.
· Asian stocks jumped, denting bullion’s safe-haven appeal, tracking a record S&P 500 finish, as hopes revived that the world’s top two economies were nearing a phase 1 deal.
Kudlow said on Thursday, an agreement could come soon.
· Ilya Spivak, a senior currency strategist at DailyFx, said the optimism for the trade deal and a bit of technical resistance at these levels is weighing on gold.
Gold prices have gained more than 14% this year as the on-again, off-again trade spat has roiled financial markets and prompted fears of a global economic slowdown.
· A Reuters poll of economists showed a permanent truce is unlikely over the coming year, and, while concerns have eased over a U.S. recession, an economic rebound is also not expected soon.
Risks associated with the political and economical issues like Brexit, Hong Kong and trade talks are “too great for something not to go wrong,” Spivak said, adding these risks will put a floor under gold prices and if something goes really wrong then prices will go higher.
· In Hong Kong, anti-government protesters paralyzed parts of the financial hub for a fifth day.
· Investors are now awaiting the U.S. retail sales and Industrial production data for the previous month, expected later in the day.
· Spot gold may bounce a bit further to $1,478 per ounce before resuming its downtrend, according to Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
· Gold prices had risen quite sharply this year, largely in response to trade-related worries. However they have backed down again since September with the daily chart showing a bounce this week at an important band of near-term support between $1451 and $1461.
The metal’s immediate fate may rest on the bulls ability to consolidate matters above this area, but it’s far from certain that they will make huge progress back towards September’s highs even if they can. In the probably more likely event that support gives way, focus will quickly turn to the area around $1435 where the market was last found back in July.
· Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.4% to $16.95 per ounce and was en route to rise 0.9% this week, while platinum fell 0.4%, to $876.81 per ounce and was set to register a weekly decline of 0.8%.
· Palladium gained 0.2% to $1,741.23 per ounce.
Reference: Reuters,DailyFX
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