Gold muted as investors await trade deal details; palladium falls

• Spot gold edged up 0.1pc to $1,477.79 per ounce by 0824 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1pc to $1,482.20.
• The dollar index hovered near a one-week high against a basket of rival currencies.
• Palladium fell 0.6pc to $1,943.53 an ounce, retreating from an all-time peak of $1,998.43 hit in the previous session.

Gold prices were largely subdued on Wednesday, with investors awaiting more details on the U.S.-China trade deal, while palladium retreated from last session's record peak.

Spot gold edged up 0.1pc to $1,477.79 per ounce by 0824 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1pc to $1,482.20.

"Gold is in sort of a holding pattern and one of the key reasons behind this is that the macro picture has been positive on the trade deal and it has obviously capped gold prices," said ING analyst Warren Patterson.

"But the main issue is they are not saying anything significant on the back of this deal and details around the trade deal are still lacking, there's that element of uncertainty."

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday said details of Chinese purchases across various sectors in the United States in the "phase one" deal would be detailed in writing, but gave no further details about when the written agreement would be released.

Bullion's upside remained capped by positive U.S. economic data that underpinned the dollar and stock markets.

The dollar index hovered near a one-week high against a basket of rival currencies, while Asian shares camped out at 18-month peaks having climbed for five straight sessions.

U.S. manufacturing production recovered in November and housing numbers rose beyond expectations with permits for future home construction soaring to a 12-1/2-year high on lower mortgage rates.

Reflecting investor interest in bullion, holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell 0.6pc on Tuesday.

"The SPDR gold exchange-traded funds (ETF) witnessed liquidation. But gold is not falling because of demonstrations by New Yorkers for U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment," said Jigar Trivedi, a commodities analyst at Mumbai-based Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.

"There is also fear of recession in Germany, and fear of no-deal Brexit," Trivedi said, adding that the outlook is still positive for gold next year.

Britain on Tuesday set a hard deadline of December 2020, to reach a new trade deal with the European Union, reviving fears of a chaotic exit from the bloc.

Palladium fell 0.6pc to $1,943.53 an ounce, retreating from an all-time peak of $1,998.43 hit in the previous session.

"The market set their sights on the key target, once we did that, we definitely did see some profit-taking - that's the reason we saw that price inflection," ING's Patterson said.

Silver rose 0.3pc to $17.05 per ounce, while platinum advanced 0.2pc to $929.21.