Investing.com - What's good for commodities isn't necessarily good for gold. And what's good for U.S.-China trade, particularly, isn't good for gold, either, given the yellow metal's unique position as a hedge to financial troubles.
A five-day rally in gold that gave bullion bugs their best winning streak in 17 months finally came to an end on Friday. The bullish trend snapped on reports that President Donald Trump wished to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal that would end a bitter year of tit-for-tat tariffs between the two economic superpowers.
CNBC reported that a top U.S. trade negotiator also reported “substantial progress” in two days of talks with Chinese delegates in Washington. But the report pointed out that the markets may not necessarily buy the idea of progress, given the numerous contradictions by the White House on trade talks.
In futures trading, gold's benchmark April contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down $3.10, or 0.2%, at $1,322.10 per ounce. For the week, April gold logged a gain of 1.4%. The April contract hit a nine-month high of $1,330.15 on Thursday.
The spot gold contract, reflective of trades in physical bullion, was down by $4.45, or 0.3%, at $1,317.63 by 1:32 PM ET (18:32 GMT). On Thursday, it made a nine-month high at $1,326.32.
Gold also slid as stocks on Wall Street rallied to the U.S. January employment report, which showed a solid growth of 304,000 jobs versus a forecast rise of 165,000.
The spot price of palladium traded at $1,350.15 per ounce, up $5.80, or 0.4%.
Spot palladium briefly traded above gold earlier this month. It hit a record $1,440.35 a troy ounce on Jan. 17, making it the world's most valuable metal at the time. Gold has hit even higher levels previously, rallying above $1,900 in 2011.
The most-activepalladium futures contract on Comex rose by $14.75, or 1.1%, to $1,314.65 per ounce.
In other precious metals on Comex, silver futures fell 15.4 cents, or 1%, to $16.08 per ounce after making a seven-month high of nearly $16.20 on Thursday.
Platinum futures gained $2.60, or 0.3%, to $827.30 per ounce.
In base metals,copper futures slid by 1.3 cents, or 0.5%, to $2.77 per lb.