Gold prices eased on Thursday as immediate global trade tension eased U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work towards eliminating trade barriers.
Gold Futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchangeis was down 0.2% to a trading price of $1,229.90 each troy ounce at 1:30AM ET (05:30 GMT).
U.S. President Donald Trump reached an agreement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday to expand European imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas and soybeans and reduce industrial tariffs on both sides.
Meanwhile, the dollar slipped to near a two-week low on Tuesday following the development.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, slipped 0.1% to 93.96 at 1:19AM ET (05:19 GMT). The index touched a fresh two-week low earlier in Asia trading.
“The meeting between the EU President Juncker and President Trump in which they discussed moves to ease trade tensions led to some softening of the U.S. dollar index, which has helped push up gold,” said National Australia Bank economist John Sharma.
“The U.S.-China trade dispute, though, still remains unresolved and is the more challenging one. On gold, it is likely to ebb and flow with U.S. dollar movements, before gaining momentum towards the end of the year,” Sharma said.
Looking ahead, investors are likely to shift focus to the European Central Banks’ (ECB) policy meeting due later in the day and the second-quarter U.S. economic growth data, which is expected on Friday.
