Investing.com -- Gold prices bounced a little in quiet trade on Monday, steadying after a volatile day on Friday, when a strong U.S. labor market report lifted risk assets at the expense of havens.
Trading was constrained by the lack of major news on trade ahead of what would be a sweeping new round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, which is due to take force on Sunday.
“With no sign of U.S. negotiators booking flights to Beijing for any deal signing, the December 15 deadline for the next round of tariffs looks rather perilous,” said Robert Carnell, chief economist for Asia-Pacific with ING in a research note. “The sense of optimism evident in markets may not make it quite to the end of the year.”
The tariffs in question are due to hit Chinese goods worth around $150 billion a year, and would hit many of the consumer goods so far exempted. As such, they would make the economic consequences of the ongoing trade war more palpable for low-income voters.
By 10 AM ET (1500 GMT), gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were up 0.1% at $1,467.10 a troy ounce, while spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,462.45. Both the physical and the futures product have effectively limited their losses to 1% or less since the payrolls report.
Earlier Monday, data released by the People’s Bank of China showed the central bank had again abstained from gold purchases in November, leaving its reserves at 62.64 million tons. The Chinese central bank was the world’s biggest buyer for much of the last year, due to a desire to reduce the share of dollars in its foreign reserves, but its purchases have tapered to zero in recent months – one of the reason that bullion has failed to crack the $1,500 level conclusively.
Elsewhere silver futures also stabilized at a lower level, gaining 0.3% to $16.65 an ounce, while platinum futures were essentially flat at $899.30.
Copper futures, which act as a bellwether for industrial demand and consequently often move inversely to haven assets, bucked that pattern, rising 1.1% to $2.75 a pound – their highest since July.