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Gold Prices Flat as U.S. Dollar Edges Up

Published 05/20/2019, 01:07 AM
Updated 05/20/2019, 01:07 AM
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

Investing.com - Gold prices were trading near flat on Monday in Asia as the U.S. dollar edged higher.

Gold Futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were unchanged at $1,276.15 by 1:00 AM ET (05:00 GMT).

The precious metal hit two-week lows on Friday as the U.S. dollar surged following the release of data that showed U.S. consumer sentiment was at a 15-year high. Reports that China’s state-run media expressed impatience over the progress of trade negotiations with Washington also supported the dollar.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.1% to 97.870, a two-week high.

Unlike many assets, gold is in a unique position in the U.S.-China trade war. A positive resolution on that means bullion could benefit from more jewellery and other bullion-related consumption in China. A negative outcome could bolster gold's standing as a safe-haven hedge against further weakening in Chinese growth.

Earlier this month, analysts and multiple newswires that cited insider sources were expecting a trade agreement to be signed soon as the two sides seemingly made good progress in trade discussions.

That all changed when U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced a hike in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, blaming China for slowing down the progress in negotiations. Last week, China countered with higher U.S. tariffs on its goods by announcing duty hikes of its own on American merchandise.

Hopes that they could reach a deal soon diminished even further after Trump and his administration imposed sanctions on Chinese giant telecom company Huawei.

On Sunday, Reuters reported that Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has now suspended some business with Huawei and all Huawei-made phones will immediately lose access to updates to the Android operating system, the world’s most popular smartphone software.

Newer Huawei smartphones coming out in the future will lose access to the Google Play Store and Gmail app, according to the report.

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