Gold steadies

LONDON. — Gold steadied near one-year lows yesterday as the dollar slipped, while lack of clarity over where a trade dispute between the United States and Europe is heading kept most markets range-bound.

Spot gold was up 0.8 percent at $1,233.57 an ounce at 1339 GMT. It touched $1,211.08 last week, the lowest since July last year, for a loss of more than 10 percent since April 11.

US gold futures gained 0,6 percent to $1,232.40. A sliding US currency makes dollar-denominated gold cheaper for holders of other currencies, which could potentially boost demand.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker travelled to Washington yesterday for talks focused on trade tensions with US President Donald Trump. The US has imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.

“It makes sense that gold has underperformed. There is a lot of talk about risk off, but major equity markets have been pretty robust and the dollar has been strong,” said Marcus Garvey, commodities strategist at ICBC Standard Bank.

“There is scope for the dollar to ease a bit, which should provide support for gold, though an aggressive rally in the short term is unlikely. From a medium term perspective we think this is a reasonable level to add length (buy).”

ICBC expects the gold price to average $1,260 an ounce in the third quarter and $1,300 in the fourth quarter. Reuters.