Investing.com - Prices of safe-haven gold slipped on Monday in Asia and traded below the key $1,300 level as the release of stronger-than-expected China trade and credit data on Friday continued to bolster risk appetite.
Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were down 0.2%, at $1,292.15 per ounce by 12:55 AM ET (04:55 GMT).
The precious metal finished last week basically flat.
Risk sentiment was boosted by the credit data released by the People’s Bank of China on Friday that suggested growth exceeded all estimates in March.
The March trade surplus also soared past expectations, official data showed, with exports rising more than 14% for March from a year ago, exceeding expectations of a 7.3% rise.
The better-than-expected data eased concerns about a global economic growth slowdown and provided support to Asian equities.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component gained more than 1%, while Hong Kong and Japanese stocks rose 0.5%.
Stocks and other risk assets are key contrarian trades to gold.
Investor sentiment was also boosted amid positive developments in the Sino-U.S. trade talks.
The two sides have agreed on an enforcement mechanism to police any trade deal they agree on in the future, according to reports last week.
“There are certain commitments that the United States is making in this agreement, and there are certain commitments that China is making,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters Saturday at the IMF meetings in Washington.
“I would expect that the enforcement mechanism works in both directions, that we expect to honor our commitments, and if we don’t, there should be certain repercussions, and the same way in the other direction,” he said, adding that the two countries are considering to hold more in-person meetings.
In the U.K., Brexit headlines are expected to quiet down over the coming week with parliament on holiday until April 23.