Gold Prices Edge Down Despite Uncertainty on Sino-U.S. Trade Deal

Investing.com – Gold prices fell on Thursday in Asia despite increasing uncertainty on the prospect of a Sino-U.S. trade deal.

on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 0.1% to $1,319.75 per ounce by 1:03 AM ET (06:03 GMT).

The precious metal dropped today even after U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer said issues with China were “too serious” to be resolved by promises of more purchases of U.S. goods by Beijing, raising uncertainty of a potential trade deal between the two sides.

Lighthizer, U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade negotiator, said in his testimony at a Congressional hearing that any deal with China must include a way to ensure commitments are met and it was too early to predict the outcome of ongoing trade talks.

His comments came after Trump delayed more tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this week, citing “substantial progress” in the latest round of trade talks that were led by Lighthizer and China Vice Premier Liu He.

“(Lighthizer) was certainly talking as if a deal isn’t imminent,” Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee, told Reuters.

The safe-haven gold slipped to its lowest since Feb. 15 at $1,316.43 in the previous session, although it is also holding solidly above $1,300 on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s assurances that the Fed was in no hurry to raise U.S. interest rates this year after the four hikes in 2018.

Investors are also monitoring the tensions between India and Pakistan, with the two countries reportedly engaged in retaliatory attacks.

Meanwhile, the that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was also down 0.1% at 95.981.

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