Gold steady as dollar softens versus stabilising yen

BENGALURU: Gold prices were steady early on Wednesday, after rising in the previous session, as the US dollar softened against China's yuan and the euro.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was unchanged at $1,210.91 an ounce at 0043 GMT, after rising 0.4 per cent in the previous session.

* US gold futures were up 0.1 per cent at $1219.4 an ounce.

* The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1 per cent at 95.133.

* Asian shares rose on Wednesday on the back of firmer Wall Street earnings while expectations for increased Chinese stimulus helped take the edge off wider concerns about the worsening Sino-US trade dispute.

* The United States will begin collecting 25 per cent tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods on Aug. 23, the US Trade Representative's office said on Tuesday as it published a final tariff list targeting 279 imported product lines.

* Companies doing business with Iran will be barred from the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, as new US sanctions took effect despite pleas from Washington's allies.

* US job openings held near record highs in June amid a modest decline in hiring, pointing to a further tightening of labour market conditions, which economists hope will soon spur faster wage growth.

* The prospect of a "no-deal Brexit" appears to have grown after the European Union's negotiator rejected last month central elements of Prime Minister Theresa May's proposals for a new trade agreement.

* The European Parliament has agreed to ease tough new liquidity rules for banks trading gold, marking a success for the London Bullion Market Association's (LBMA) campaign to revise the plans.

* Gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw outflows in North America, Europe and Asia in July as a strong US dollar helped weaken gold prices, the World Gold Council said on Tuesday.

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.15 per cent to 787.53 tonnes on Tuesday from 788.71 tonnes on Monday.