Gold has posted losses in the Thursday session. In North American trade, the spot price for one ounce of gold is $1227.40, down 0.40% on the day. On the release front, durable goods reports rebounded in June but missed their estimates. Core Durable Goods Orders improved to 0.4%, shy of the estimate of 0.5%. Durable Goods Orders posted a gain of 1.0%, short of the estimate of 3.0%. Unemployment claims climbed to 217 thousand, above the estimate of 215 thousand. On Friday, the U.S releases Advance GDP and UoM Consumer Sentiment.
Trade tensions between the U.S and the European Union have dropped dramatically, which has sent gold prices lower on Thursday. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juckner met with President Trump on Wednesday at the White House, and the meeting went better than expected. The parties announced that they had agreed to hold off on any further tariffs while talks are ongoing. This is a major concession from Trump, who had threatened to impose tariffs on European car imports. U.S tariffs on European aluminum and steel will remain in place, but Juckner pointed out that the U.S has agreed to reassess these measures. It’s still too early to call the trade war over, with negotiations over trade expected to be contentious. Still, market sentiment has improved, and if the Trump administration can reach agreements with China and with Canada and Mexico over NAFTA, risk appetite could rise and send gold prices downwards.
