Gold Unchanged Ahead of ECB Meeting

Gold prices were unchanged and stayed above the key $1,500 level ahead of the highly-anticipated European Central Bank (ECB) meeting due later in the day.

Gold Futures were unchanged at $1,503.20 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Traders await the outcome of the ECB policy meeting, where the central bank is expected to cut rates and join the global trend of monetary policy easing.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting is also expected to be in focus next week. Fresh pressure from President Donald Trump, who tweeted earlier Wednesday that “boneheads” at the Fed should cut to “ZERO, or below”, had little impact on prices.

Positive development on the Sino-U.S. trade war also did not affect gold prices today.

“At the request of the Vice Premier of China, Liu He, and due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th Anniversary on October 1st, we have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th,” Trump said in a tweet posted overnight.

Earlier this week, China said it will exempt a range of U.S. goods from 25% of extra tariffs. Officials from China and the U.S. are due to meet in Washington in October