Investing.com - Gold prices traded near flat on Friday in Asia but drifted away from the key $1,300 level it hit earlier this week.
Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were at $1,286.95 by 1:37 AM ET (05:37 GMT), up 0.06%.
The safe-haven metal rose above the $1,300 level earlier this week amid intensifying trade dispute between the U.S. and China, but began to decline as a strong rebound in U.S. stock market this week boosted investors’ risk appetite.
A batch of stronger U.S. economic data released overnight were cited as a catalyst for the selling in the precious metal today.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell to 212,000 from the week prior, data showed, indicating that the U.S. economy continues to be strong despite the ongoing trade dispute with China.
U.S. homebuilding also increased more than expected in April. Housing starts rose 5.7% to 1.235 million units last month, data showed.
The U.S. dollar also rose and hit a two-week high overnight following the release of the data, putting more pressure on the safe-haven gold.
“We have seen repeated attempts in the last few days to rise above $1 300 and it (gold) appears to be facing some kind of barrier. There is clearly some selling when it hits that level,” said Capital Economics analyst Ross Strachan.
Reports of U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecoms company Huawei limited bullion’s losses as traders await further news on the Sino-U.S. trade front.
On Wednesday, the U.S. 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.