Gold prices steady

BENGALURU. — Gold prices were steady yesterday as the dollar remained under pressure on signs that US President Donald Trump would adopt a protectionist stance on trade.

Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1 217,42 per ounce by 3.37am GMT, after hitting their strongest since November 22 at $1 219,59 earlier in the session. US gold futures inched up 0,2 percent, to $1 218.

Trump formally withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal on Monday and told US manufacturing executives he would impose a hefty border tax on firms that imported products after moving US factories overseas.

“We are looking at gold hitting $1 250 within weeks. The rationale is very simple. The market was on honeymoon with Trump. With him in power now, the reality starts to bite,” said Dominic Schnider of UBS Wealth Management in Hong Kong.

“The market starts to realise the euphoria on how he starts to accelerate the growth and is disappointed. Maybe his policies are inflationary rather than growth supportive.”

Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said that an excessively strong dollar was negative in the short term, according to a report by Bloomberg on Monday.

That put additional pressure on the dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell for a third day by 0,2 percent to 99.930.

Trump’s campaign calls for tax cuts and more infrastructure spending have boosted US shares and the dollar, as well as driving a sell-off in US treasury bills, but his protectionist statements and a flurry of off-the-cuff tweets have kept many investors from adding to risky positions.