Gold Prices Slip as U.S.-China Trade Talks Continues to Send Conflicting Signals

 Gold prices slipped on Monday in Asia as Sino-U.S. trade negotiations continued to send conflicting signals to the markets.

Gold Futures dropped 0.4% to $1,465.05 by 1:25 AM ET (05:25 GMT).

Chinese President XiJinping said last week that China has been “working actively to try not to have a trade war.”

“We did not initiate this trade war, and this is not something we want.”

Xi and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump both expressed a desire to sign a phase one trade deal. However, Reuters reported that the signing of the deal might be delayed till next year. Beijing has accused the U.S. of meddling in its internal affairs as the U.S. Congress passed two pro-democracy bill that support protestors in Hong Kong.

“Their evil hope is that Hong Kong will go down in chaos and become a card in their hands to hold back China’s development,” People’s Daily, China’s state-run media said in a front-page commentary on the weekend.


Reuters reported today that a phase two trade agreement now looks even less likely as the two nations struggled to even reach a preliminary deal.

On the other hand, Trump said on Friday a trade accord with China is "potentially very close," before noting that "the question is whether or not I want to make it."

Gold prices were also pressured by rising Asian equities today, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumping almost 2% in morning trade