Gold prices low

GOLD and silver prices are lower in early US trading yesterday. Gold notched a five-week low, while silver hit a nine-week bottom. Risk-on trader and investor attitudes at present are hammering on the safe-haven metals. April gold futures were last down $12,10 an ounce at $1,287.00. May Comex silver was last down $0.106 at $15,15 an ounce.

Asian and European stock markets were mostly higher overnight, with the stock market in China hitting a nine-month high. U.S. stock indexes are also pointed toward firmer openings and at multi-month highs when the New York day session begins.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday the US and China are close to finalising a trade agreement. The story said China would lower its tariffs on US imported goods, with the US doing the same on most or all of the trade sanctions it levied against China last year. The report said US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Florida later this month. A trade deal would end months of trader and investor uncertainty regarding the world’s two largest economies penalising each other.

Attention of the marketplace later this week will be on the European Central Bank’s regular monetary policy meeting on Thursday. The ECB is expected to loosen its purse strings on money in order to stimulate an anemic Euro zone economy.

The U.S. jobs report from the Labor Department is due out Friday morning. That’s arguably the most important U.S. economic data point of the month.

In overnight news, the Euro zone January producer price index was released and it came in up 0.4 percent from December and up 3.0 percent, year-on-year. Those numbers were in line with market expectations. The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly firmer. Nymex crude oil prices are up and trading just above $56.00 a barrel. Kitco News.