Gold futures fell back below the psychologically significant price of $1,300 an ounce on Tuesday, as equity benchmarks attempted to stage a modest rebound from a period of trade-related uncertainty.
June gold GCM9, -0.33% receded by $4.70, or 0.4%, at $1,297.10 an ounce, after jumping 1.1% on Monday and marking the first settlement above $1,300 and highest most-active contract finish since April 10, according to FactSet data.
The SPDR Gold Shares ETF GLD, -0.24% meanwhile, was down 0.2% and the gold-miners focused exchange-traded VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, -0.96% dropped 0.8%.
July silver SIN9, +0.36% added 1.8 cents, or 0.1%, at $14.795 an ounce, after slipping 0.1% in the previous session.
Commodity investors are deriving a modicum of optimism from recent comments from President Donald Trump, who said late Monday that it should be clear in “three or four weeks” if a U.S. delegation’s recent trip to China to discuss trade was successful. “I have a feeling it’s going to be very successful,” he said, lifting market sentiment that has been buffeted by worries about intensifying tensions between the world’s largest economic superpowers, which could pose a threat to the health of global markets.
U.S. stocks, which tend to rise as gold falls, were bouncing off their recent lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.98% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.97% headed higher in Tuesday dealings.
On Monday, China announced that it would impose tariffs that could reach 25% on $60 billion in annual U.S. exports on June 1, after the U.S. last week raised tariffs on $200 billion in annual Chinese imports to 25% from 10%.
Amid those developments, a reading of trade, the import price index, climbed 0.2% last month, the government said Tuesday, below Wall Street forecasts calling for an increase of as much as 1%.
Despite the slippage for gold on Tuesday, technical analysts say the recent climb for bullion signifies that the commodity is taking a bullish turn after somewhat listless trade. “In regards to the technical picture, gold is turning bullish on the daily charts as prices have broken above the previous higher low at $1290,” wrote Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, in a daily research note.
“Gold has experienced an incredible appreciation early this week with prices sprinting towards the psychological $1,300 level as risk aversion sent investors rushing to safe-haven assets,” he wrote.
The analyst said that trade-war fears will remain a focus for investors.
Elsewhere on Comex, July platinum PLN9, +0.46% gained $1.80, or 0.2%, to $856.70 an ounce, while June palladium PAM9, -0.09% shed $5.70, or 0.4%, to trade at $1,311.10 an ounce.
Meanwhile, July copper HGN9, +0.09% which has been sensitive to the Sino-American trade tensions, was up 0.2% at $2.725 a pound. Trade jitters between the world’s largest economies has the potential to hurt demand for the industrial metal.
Read: Copper may soon be a ‘no-brainer’ buy as supplies tighten
