Investing.com - Gold prices dipped in Asia on Tuesday as investors mulled renewed demand prospects from China following data that showed China's net-gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong surged 50.8% month-on-month in February.
China and India vie as the world's top gold importers, though restriction on imports in India have hit demand. In China, restrictions on currency exchanged aimed at slowing the pace of a yuan weakening may also be prompting demand for gold.
Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange eased 0.19% to $1,253.35 a troy ounce, while copper dipped 0.15% to $2.633 a pound as supply concerns wane after strikes in the settlement lasst week of strikes at major mines in Chile and Indonesia.
Overnight, gold prices traded higher on Monday, as investors raised concerns over President Trump’s ability to deliver on his pro-growth policies, after the Trump administration failed to push a health care bill through congress on Friday.
Gold prices remained at session highs, after a slump in the dollar continued to lend support to dollar-denominated gold, as investors fled the so-called ‘Trumpflation trade’ amid worries that the healthcare bill setback could weigh on the success of Trump’s pro-growth policies being passed.
The dollar had rallied post-election, as investors piled into the so-called ‘Trumpflation trade’ based on the notion that President Trump’s promise to increase spending, speed up deregulation and introduce tax-reform, viewed as inflationary, would perk up the dollar.
House Speaker Ryan, failed to address concerns regarding Trump’s ability to push through his pro-growth economic agenda, which includes tax reform, after Mr Ryan admitted on Friday that “it [the withdrawal of the healthcare bill] does make tax reform more difficult but it does not make it impossible”.