Gold futures retreated Thursday, while the dollar stabilized and stocks were poised for follow-on gains to Wednesday’s late-day revival, as global markets dug in for what could be a prolonged negotiating effort to ward off an outright trade war between the U.S. and China.
The metal had settled higher Wednesday after China said it would impose tariffs of up to 25% on 106 American categories of products, elevating tensions in a simmering trade conflict between Washington and Beijing. Mounting confrontation had provided a lift for gold and other havens that tend to attract bids in times of global uncertainty.
But on Thursday June gold GCM8, -0.85% fell $7.60, or 0.6%, to $1,332.60 an ounce in early trade. May silver SIK8, -0.39% used both for industrial purposes and as a financial asset, traded modestly firmer after it took a hit amid concerns about a trade skirmish. The white metal was last up less than 0.1% at $16.255 an ounce.
Copper prices also improved from their Wednesday retreat on trade-tariff fears, with copper for May delivery HGK8, +1.38% up 1.5% at $3.0545 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had shed 1.7% a day earlier.
In exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Shares ETF GLD, +0.12% slipped 0.3%. The iShares Silver Trust SLV, -0.52% eased 0.2%, while the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners GDX, -0.18% fell 0.5%.
A slight firming of the U.S. currency dented dollar-pegged gold, as such gains can make commodities less attractive to buyers using other currencies. The U.S. unit, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.29% was up 0.2%.
Meanwhile, stock futures rose modestly. Wednesday’s dramatic turnaround helped the Nasdaq end in positive territory for the year. The S&P 500 finished safely above its 200-day moving average for a second straight session, a positive sign for long-term momentum trends.
Two key data reports are scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time: The February trade deficit and weekly jobless claims. The latter will be the last major read on the labor market before Friday’s closely watched monthly government data on nonfarm payrolls.
The first two months of the year have seen a rapid expansion in jobs, but economists are expecting March growth will come in slower.
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Among other metals, July platinum PLN8, -0.62% fell $3.60, or 0.4%, to $914.50 an ounce. June palladium PAM8, -1.30% fell $4.20, or 0.5%, to $913.70 an ounce.