Gold edges lower as dollar holds firm

Gold edged lower on Monday as the dollar held firm on news that China has cancelled trade talks with the United States, with the market also eyeing this week's US Federal Reserve meeting for guidance on future rate hikes.

Investors were squarely focused on Sino-US trade tensions, after China cancelled mid-level trade talks with the United States, as well as a proposed visit to Washington by Vice-Premier Liu He originally scheduled for this week.

Spot gold inched down 0.2 per cent to $1,196.17 by 0323 GMT, after falling as much as 1.3 per cent on Friday. US gold futures were virtually unchanged at $1,200.60 an ounce. Liquidity is expected to be thin during Asian hours as markets in Japan and China are closed for a holiday.

“The news out of China does seem to be having some negative impact (on gold) with the U.S. dollar cautiously higher and gold a bit lower by extension,” said Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist for Dailyfx.

“The moves are relatively tepid because much of what is happening was telegraphed earlier and is already priced in to some degree,” Spivak said.

Last week, China had added $60 billion of US products to its import tariff list, retaliating against US duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods that come into effect on Monday.

Although gold is generally considered to be a safe-haven asset, the months-long trade rift between Washington and Beijing has prompted investors to buy US dollars in the belief that the United States has less to lose from the dispute.

The dollar rose 0.1 per cent against a basket of currencies at 94.276. Gold has fallen over 12 per cent since a peak in April amid the intensifying trade dispute and as rising US interest rates diminish the demand for non-interest bearing bullion.

Investors are awaiting this week's Federal Reserve meeting, where the US central bank is widely expected to raise benchmark interest rates and shed light on the path for future rate hikes.

“Gold traditionally trades poorly ahead of anticipated Fed hike and the dollar will have up ground,” said Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA.

Meanwhile, speculators increased their net short position in COMEX gold contracts in the week to September 18, US data showed on Friday.

Among other precious metals, spot silver was down 0.4 per cent at $14.19. Platinum fell 0.5 per cent to $822.10, after hitting its highest in six weeks at $838.40 on Friday. Palladium fell 0.6 per cent to $1,042.65, after hitting a five-month high of $1,056.72 in the previous session.

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