Gold eases as trade optimism, firm US data lift risk appetite
US gold futures were little changed at $1,526 an ounce.
Gold prices inched lower on Friday, after dropping more than 2 per cent in the previous session, as investors were driven to riskier assets encouraged by stronger US economic data and hopes of a thaw in the US-China trade tensions.
FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,516.90 per ounce, as of 0104 GMT. In the previous session, the bullion dropped to $1,509.03, its lowest level since Aug. 23.
Prices also registered their biggest one-day percentage decline in nearly three years on Thursday.
US gold futures were little changed at $1,526 an ounce.
The dollar was supported on Friday, while Asian stocks tracked global peers and rose on bolstered risk appetite.
US services sector activity accelerated in August and private employers boosted hiring, suggesting the economy continued to grow at a moderate pace despite trade tensions, which have stoked financial market fears of a recession.
China and the United States on Thursday agreed to hold high-level talks in early October in Washington, cheering investors hoping for a trade war thaw as new US tariffs on Chinese consumer goods chip away at global growth.
Trade tensions between the United States and China are set to knock half a percentage point off of global growth by next year, France's finance minister said in an interview published on Thursday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to kick off what is in effect an election campaign casting parliament as the enemy of Brexit was overshadowed on Thursday when his younger brother quit the government, citing the national interest.
Holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.69 per cent to 889.75 tonnes on Thursday from 895.90 tonnes on Wednesday.
The retail price of physical gold in Japan climbed to its highest in nearly 40 years on Thursday, a surge accentuated by fluctuations in the value of the yen but mirroring a global hunt for the safe-haven precious metal amid worries that the US-China trade row could further depress the global economy.
FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,516.90 per ounce, as of 0104 GMT. In the previous session, the bullion dropped to $1,509.03, its lowest level since Aug. 23.
Prices also registered their biggest one-day percentage decline in nearly three years on Thursday.
US gold futures were little changed at $1,526 an ounce.
The dollar was supported on Friday, while Asian stocks tracked global peers and rose on bolstered risk appetite.
US services sector activity accelerated in August and private employers boosted hiring, suggesting the economy continued to grow at a moderate pace despite trade tensions, which have stoked financial market fears of a recession.
China and the United States on Thursday agreed to hold high-level talks in early October in Washington, cheering investors hoping for a trade war thaw as new US tariffs on Chinese consumer goods chip away at global growth.
Trade tensions between the United States and China are set to knock half a percentage point off of global growth by next year, France's finance minister said in an interview published on Thursday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to kick off what is in effect an election campaign casting parliament as the enemy of Brexit was overshadowed on Thursday when his younger brother quit the government, citing the national interest.
Holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.69 per cent to 889.75 tonnes on Thursday from 895.90 tonnes on Wednesday.
The retail price of physical gold in Japan climbed to its highest in nearly 40 years on Thursday, a surge accentuated by fluctuations in the value of the yen but mirroring a global hunt for the safe-haven precious metal amid worries that the US-China trade row could further depress the global economy.