By Anmol Choubey
(Reuters) – Gold prices fell on Thursday, reversing earlier gains, as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at a potential trade deal with Britain, easing trade tensions and reducing the precious metal’s appeal as a safe-haven investment.
Spot gold was down 0.7% to $3,342.22 an ounce, as of 1157 GMT. U.S. gold futures slipped 1.3% to $3,347.90.
“As it becomes confirmed that there is some sort of trade deal in the wings that could help to firm up the dollar a bit and take some of the steam off of gold,” said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree. [USD/]
The U.S. and Britain are expected to announce a deal to lower tariffs on some goods on Thursday.
Trump posted on Truth Social that he will hold a press conference regarding a “major trade deal”, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also expected to provide an update on the U.S.-UK trade discussions later in the day.
The trade negotiations talks between the U.S. and China in Switzerland this weekend are also keeping investors on their toes.
Meanwhile, China’s central bank has approved foreign exchange purchases by commercial banks to pay for gold imports under recently increased quotas, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
“Such measures are likely to keep supporting bullion demand, underpinning support for spot gold prices,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group.
Elsewhere, Pakistan shot down 12 drones from India that violated its airspace, the military said a day after Indian strikes on multiple targets in the country.
“Rising tensions between India and Pakistan will continue to attract attention, potentially leading to an unquantifiable level of safe haven demand,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty.
Spot silver eased 0.2% to $32.40 an ounce, platinum gained 0.6% to $979.91 and palladium fell 0.2% to $970.91.
(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond and David Evans)
