During the Asian trade session, on Monday, gold futures continue to trade in a narrow price range, albeit lower as the U.S. dollar firmed as Treasury rates moved higher.
Traders are concerned about tensions between China and the United States as U.S. President Donald Trump, overnight, held a press conference and said that he was not ready to sign a new trade deal with China,
As of 1:15 am GMT, the widely traded spot gold futures contract fell half a percent to trade at $1,506 per ounce.
U.S. gold futures, for front end delivery also gave up ground. This contract was down 0.4 percent to trade at $1,517.60 an ounce.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of six other Forex units, was trading near a two week high this morning. This multi-week high was reached on Friday during the North American trade session.
Gold Traders watch Trade War Comments and Wait on the FOMC Minutes
Traders are waiting on the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) to publish their monetary policy meeting minutes. This is scheduled for release later in the week on Wednesday and could show that that the Federal Reserve is not as dovish as everyone thinks. This would be bearish for the yellow metal.
Traders are also monitoring commentary out of this week’s Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium. Traders are somewhat expecting a 25 basis point rate cut at the FOMC’s meeting in September.
Overnight, President Donald Trump held a press conference. He said that he was not ready to make a trade deal with China. Also, he considers Huawei a threat to national security. He also said that a new trade deal with China is being made more difficult thanks to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.