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Gold held steady in early Asian trade yesterday as festering Sino-US trade tensions and hopes of an interest rate cut by the US central bank following soft inflation data buoyed demand for the safe-haven bullion.

Fundamentals

• Spot gold was up 0,1 percent at $1 334,11 as of 0148 GMT.
• US gold futures were steady at $1 336,70 an ounce.
• US consumer prices barely rose in May, data from the Labour Department showed on Wednesday, pointing to moderate inflation that together with a slowing economy increased pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.
• Weak economic data such as Wednesday’s has investors hoping the Fed would give hints about a rate cut after its June 18-19 meeting.
• The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies was steady, having risen more than 0,3 percent overnight.
• US President Donald Trump declined to set a deadline on Wednesday for levying tariffs on another $325 billion of Chinese goods and called the relationship with Beijing good but “testy” after China walked back commitments for a trade deal.
• Trump said he had a “feeling” a US-China trade deal could be reached. But he again threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese goods if there is no agreement.
• Trump says he wants to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the June 28-29 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan and will decide on whether to extend tariffs to almost all Chinese imports after that.
• Asian stocks stuttered yesterday, dogged by the uncertainty over an intractable US-China trade dispute. — Reuters.