Investing.com - Gold prices were flat on Thursday in Asia, holding slightly below the key $1,300 level.
Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were at $1,297.15 by 1:37 AM ET (05:37 GMT).
Gold prices received a boost since last week as Sino-U.S. trade tension intensified, but lost momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump dialled back some of his tough talk on negotiations with Beijing, saying he expected a "very fruitful meeting" with China's leader Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Japan next month.
In the latest development, Trump signed an executive order overnight that could restrict Chinese telecommunication firms Huawei and ZTE Corp (HK:0763) from selling their equipment in the U.S.
Shortly afterward, the Department of Commerce said it had put Huawei and 70 affiliates to its “Entity List,” a blacklist that could forbid it from doing business with American companies.
A rally in the stock market and the U.S. dollar overnight, both counter trades to the yellow metal, were cited as headwinds for gold, but losses were limited by heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia reported attacks to its oil tankers and pipelines.