Gold prices slipped after climbing to a more than three-week peak on Wednesday as safe haven demand eased after the White House said it had received an indication from China that Beijing wanted to make a trade deal.
Spot gold was 0.3 percent lower at $1,280.76 per ounce at 1:57 pm EDT (1757 GMT).
US gold futures settled down 0.3 percent at $1,281.40.
Trade delegations from Washington and Beijing are scheduled to begin a new round of talks on Thursday.
"Investors are optimistic about a decent deal coming out of these talks, which in turn is raising the appetite for riskier assets, weighing down on gold," said Michael Matousek, head trader at US Global Investors.
A gauge of world equity markets rose after White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the United States has received an indication from China that it wants to make a trade deal.
"As the news comes in that the trade talks are back on, some of the haven seekers are exiting. We are continuing to look for headlines," said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday vowed to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent on Friday.
In response to the potential additional tariffs, China's commerce ministry said it would have to take necessary retaliatory measures.
"We are seeing that a lot of traders who stepped in over the last couple of days are now taking profits. Looking at today's movement it seems temporary," Matousek said.
Gold posted gains in the previous three sessions and climbed to its highest since April 15 at $1,291.39 per ounce earlier in the session on concerns over the trade dispute's potential impact on global growth.
Indians are expected to buy at least 10 percent more gold during the annual Hindu and Jain holy festival of Akshaya Tritiya than a year ago, supporting physical demand in Asia. The country is the world's second-biggest gold consumer.
Uncertainties between the United States and China, and a Federal Reserve that is unlikely to hike interest rates this year or next are some of the factors that will keep gold supported, UBS analysts said in a note.
Silver slipped 0.4 percent to $14.84 per ounce, while platinum was down 1.1 percent at $858.50.
Palladium dipped 1 percent to $1,314.01 an ounce, having touched a one-week low of $1,311.51 earlier in the session.
Comments
Comments are closed.