Gold prices were little changed on Monday with investors looking to a G-20 meeting this week for signs of a thaw in the Sino-U.S. trade conflict, although a stronger dollar amid fears of a slowdown in global growth weighed on bullion.
Spot gold was little changed at $1,222.36 per ounce at 0114 GMT. U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,223.3 per ounce.
The dollar rose versus its major peers on Monday, as investors sought shelter in safe-haven currencies.
Asian shares were on a slippery slope as plunging oil prices fanned worries about a dimming outlook for the global economy.
Officials from some G-20 countries, anxious to see a swift end to the U.S.-China trade war, are hopeful but not confident that a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Argentina may yield at least a partial ceasefire. The two-day summit ends on December 1.
China on Friday urged the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to close loopholes and correct practices by some member states that damage global trade, warning of a “profound crisis” facing the institution’s existence.
European Union leaders finally sealed a Brexit deal on Sunday, saying the package agreed with Prime Minister Theresa May was the best Britain will get in a warning to the British parliament not to reject it.
Euro zone business growth has been much weaker than expected this month as a slowing global economy and the trade war have led to a sharp fall in exports, a survey showed on Friday.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hinted on Sunday at the possibility of tweaking the country’s deficit goal for next year, a move that could open a negotiation between Rome and Brussels to avoid a disciplinary procedure against Italy.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Friday that he was quite happy with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s performance, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the president was dissatisfied with Mnuchin.
Source: Reuters
