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Gold edged away from the previous session’s one-week peak yesterday as the dollar regained momentum as the preferred safe-haven from uncertainty over US-China trade tensions, while weakness in equity markets limited losses for the metal.

Spot gold was down 0,2 percent at $1,282.73 per ounce by 1200 GMT, having touched its highest since May 17 at $1,287.32 in the previous session.
US gold futures were 0,1 percent lower at $1,282.80 an ounce.

“The gold market is clearly lacking direction at the moment. There is uncertainty in financial markets, which is positive for gold. At the same time, the gold market continues to face headwinds from a stronger US dollar,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said.

“Despite these trade tensions, gold is not attracting any safe-haven flows at the moment.”
The dollar rose 0,2 percent against a basket of leading currencies after touching its lowest since May 16 at 97,546 on Friday, emerging as the preferred hedge from the trade tensions, repeating a trend seen last year.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday at a news conference with Japanese President Shinzo Abe that he was “not ready to make a deal with China”, denting hopes of a trade agreement between the world’s biggest economies. — Reuters.