Gold enjoyed a a bump up this morning on continued trade uncertainty over the U.S.-China trade accord and disappointing Chinese producer price data over the weekend.
The yellow metal settle at $1,462.90 an ounce Friday on Comex. It rose to $1,467.90 earlier this morning, but is back to $1,461.30.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he hasn’t agreed to roll back tariffs on Chinese goods, muddling sentiment that a trade deal to end the standoff between the two countries was imminent.
“I haven’t agreed to anything,” he told reporters at the White House Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal. “But we’re getting along very well with China. They want to make a deal. Frankly, they want to make a deal a lot more than I do.”
Equities in Asia slid Monday, the markets’ first chance to respond to the statement. Stocks also fell as Hong Kong’s political crisis escalated.
In economic news, China’s producer prices decreased the most in more than three years in October. The producer price index fell 1.6% last month from a year earlier, the steepest decline since July 2016, according to National Bureau of Statistics data Saturday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast a 1.5% contraction. In contrast, China’s consumer price index rose at the fastest pace in almost eight years.
Investors continue to keep a close eye on economic news for indications on whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates for a fourth consecutive time in December. The CME FedWatch Tool showed just a 5.2% probability of another cut at the Federal Open Market Committee’s next meeting Dec. 11, while 94.8% predicted no change early Monday. The figures have shifted from a week ago, when 88.2% predicted no change and 11.8% anticipated another cut.
This week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will address the Joint Economic Committee of Congress on Wednesday in Washington. China will report retail sales and industrial production data Thursday, and U.S. retail sales data are due out Friday.
Silver was little changed early Monday after tumbling 6.6% last week, outpacing gold’s decline. The most-active December contract settled at $16.87 an ounce on Comex, the lowest level in three months.
Spot platinum also fell 6.6% last week, and spot palladium was down 3.4%.
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