Investing.com - Gold prices gained on Monday in Asia despite easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions.
U.S. Gold Futures gained 0.2% to $1,506.6 by 1:25 AM ET (05:25 GMT).
Gold is up around 17% on the year as investors fled to the safe-haven amid currency devaluations, recession fears, Brent uncertainty and other tensions involving China and Iran.
The fall of gold prices today came despite signs of easing Sino-U.S. tensions. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that talks between China and the U.S. are going very well, as Beijing wants to make a deal “very badly.”
The two nations are close to “finalizing some sections of the (trade) agreement,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said, adding that “discussions will go on continuously at the deputy level, and the principals will have another call in the near future.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision is due on Wednesday. While the central bank is widely expected to deliver its third rate cut this year, analysts said this is largely priced into the market already and thus would not cause major impact on prices.
Instead, traders will be eager to find out if the cut this week would be the end of the easing cycle, or if more cuts are on the cards.
The Fed rate decision is due just hours after a report on U.S. third quarter GDP, which is expected to show that the economy grew 1.7% in the three month to September, slowing from 2% in the second quarter.