Gold prices declined on Monday after both the United States and China showed a willingness to sign an initial trade agreement by the end of this year, enhancing the investors' risk sentiment.

Gold prices fell on Tuesday afternoon, erasing gains reported early in the session from the Asian markets. Silver prices were also down 0.13%. Rekindled hopes and boosted optimism for a trade truce between the two largest economies in the world impacted the precious metals. The U.S. has granted an extension for the American companies to keep doing business with the Chinese telecoms giant, Huawei, boosting optimism for a trade deal.

Gold continued to extend losses on Friday amid news of a potential deal between the United States and China that would see tariffs lifted, something that increased the investors’ risk appetite.

Gold prices inched up on Friday amid the Uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade talks. This uncertainty has put a damper on the investors' risk appetite, Reuters reported. Still, the precious metal is poised for its biggest weekly decline in two years.

Gold prices slightly rose on Wednesday amid the uncertainties surrounding Brexit and US-China trade talks. The slight rise in the prices on Wednesday was attributed to some technical buying according to analysts.

Spot gold traded at $1,489.31 per ounce, 0.1% up from the previous session. US gold futures were up 0.3%, trading at 1,492.40 per ounce.

“Gold has been rising modestly on technical buying since it fell to the $1,470 level,” Reuters quoted the assistant vice-president of commodity research at SMC Comtrade Vandana Bharti as saying. “What we see today is a continuation of that but uncertainty over Brexit is also providing some support.”

On Tuesday, the House of Commons backed for the first time in three years a piece of legislation for Brexit. However, the House of Commons rejected the timetable for the Brexit legislation. The UK Prime Minister sought to ram the legislation through Parliament in three days. The defeat for the UK Premier made it unlikely for Mr. Johnson to be able to take Britain out of the European Union on October 31st.

The US and China have also achieved some progress in their trade talks, according to remarks made by the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng.

Gold is usually used as a safe haven in times of political and economic uncertainties.

Source: Reuters

Gold is looking ready to re-start its bull run after five years of “caged trading,” which means the yellow metal could be looking at retracing its path to 2013’s peak of $1,700 an ounce, according to Bloomberg Intelligence (BI).

“Gold has worthy catalysts for price gains after five years of caged trading. It stands to be the primary beneficiary, absent a definitive U.S.-China trade accord that reverses accelerating global declines in sovereign-debt yields, rate-cut expectations and increasing stock-market volatility,” BI senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone said in the July outlook.

Gold’s breach of $1,400 an ounce and a surge to six-year highs has lit a fire under the bull run, which is looking strong at this point, McGlone noted.

“Gold's 2Q top-performer status is set to carry into 2H, in our view,” he wrote. “Seemingly unstoppable trends in increasing sovereign debt-to-GDP levels and declining bond yields are gold-price supportive. These macro trends need to reverse for the price of gold to not advance.”

Sustained trading above $1,410 is a sign of a renewed bull run and an indication that 2013’s peak of $1,700 an ounce will guide the metal’s price target resistance, McGlone pointed out.

“Gold needs a good reason to not fully retrace the big plunge year of 2013, which peaked at about $1,700 an ounce … Significant for ending 12 successive years of gains with the worst plunge in two decades, 2013's 28% decline broke the back of the gold bull. The midpoint of the 2013 range near $1,440 enhances the resistance zone gold has re-entered,” he said.

Higher gold prices are the most likely outcome for the second half of the year, with the peak U.S. dollar theory and the Federal Reserve rate cut expectations driving the rally.

“The foundation for higher gold prices has rarely been stronger. Five years of consolidation, with elevated risk of downside in a dollar that's near multi-decade highs coincident with similar upside potential in stock-market volatility, supports gold prices. Additional backing comes from anticipated Fed easing,” McGlone explained.

Source: Kitco.com

 Gold prices are solidly down in early-morning U.S. trading Thursday, in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve’s latest FOMC meeting that jerked around several markets, including the metals. June gold futures were last down $10.20 an ounce at $1,273.90. July Comex silver was last down $0.009 at $14.72 an ounce.

Traders and investors are still digesting Wednesday afternoon’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement and press conference from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. While the Fed made no changes in U.S. monetary policy, the statement and Powell’s comments did move markets. The FOMC statement said some members were worried that inflation is too low, which the marketplace initially read as dovish on monetary policy. However, at Powell’s press conference, when asked about worrisome low inflation, he said elements causing present lower inflation are “transitory.” While there is no clear consensus at all on the timing or direction of the next Fed interest rate move, it seems most of the marketplace now feels there is less of a chance the Fed will cut U.S. interest rates anytime soon. That’s because Powell not only said very low inflation was transitory, he was also very upbeat on assessing the U.S. economy’s prospects.

The gold market initially pushed higher but then dropped lower Wednesday afternoon following the Fed meeting, while the U.S. dollar index rallied off its lows to post modest gains. U.S. Treasury bond and note futures prices initially rallied on the FOMC statement but then lost all those gains after Powell’s remarks. U.S. stocks rallied modestly on the Fed news.

Technically, the gold bears have the overall near-term technical advantage and have gained some momentum late this week. A nine-week-old downtrend line is in still place on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close in June futures above solid resistance at $1,300.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at $1,250.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,279.40 and then at last week’s high of $1,290.90. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,271.30 and then at the April low of $1,267.90

July silver futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a nine-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $15.15 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $14.50. First resistance is seen at $14.775 and then at $15.00. Next support is seen at this week’s low of $14.62 and then at $14.50.