Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump's comment that Washington was close to an interim trade deal with China boosted demand for riskier assets.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,458.85 per ounce by 0751 GMT. Prices touched a two-week low of $1,450.30 in the previous session. US gold futures shed 0.1% to $1,458.70.
On Tuesday, Trump said Washington was in the "final throes" of a deal that would defuse the 16-month tariff dispute with Beijing.
"Both the US and China are softening their stance and there could be an interim deal ... so people are flocking to riskier assets, and gold is losing its appeal," said Hitesh Jain, vice president, Yes Securities.
However, "at this stage, the markets are not going to have any significant response in terms of lasting follow through unless there is ink on paper or any kind of tangible development (on the trade front)," Ilya Spivak, a senior currency strategist at DailyFx, said.
Investors were still wary that bills passed by the United States supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong will complicate negotiations.
On China's industrial front, data showed profits of firms fell at their steepest pace in eight months in October. This comes after US consumer confidence fell for a fourth straight month in November.
Nonetheless, safe-haven bullion, which has gained more than 13% this year, mainly due to the tariff dispute, was little moved.
The central bank cut interest rates three times this year before pausing. Lower rates reduce the opportunity cost for holders of bullion, an asset that yields no interest.
"The safe-haven asset, though indicating resilience, continues to face considerable headwinds as global risk appetites stay vigorous over positive signals (on the trade front)," Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu said in a note.
Spot gold may retest a support at $1,455 per ounce, a break below which could cause a fall into the range of $1,417-$1,440, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
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