Gold steadies ahead of Trump policy speech

london — Gold held steady on Tuesday after falling from a 3-1/2 month high in the previous session as the market waited on a speech by US President Donald Trump that is expected to provide more clarity on economic reforms.

Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,251.46 an ounce by 1058 GMT, having hit its highest since November 11 at $1,263.80 on Monday.

US gold futures fell 0.5 per cent to $1,252.70.

Investors are shifting their attention to Trump’s policy speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, when he is expected to provide clues on his tax-cutting plans.

“There is lots of uncertainty ahead of Trump’s speech,” said Commerzbank commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch, adding that expectations for tax cuts had been raised.

The president had said on Monday that he would propose a budget that would ramp up spending on defence while seeking savings elsewhere.

“After yesterday’s news about an increase in military spending it will even be more complicated to keep the budget in check,” Fritsch said. “A massively increased budget deficit would undermine confidence in the dollar and benefit gold.”

The dollar index was also little changed at 101.08 ahead of Trump’s speech.

“A possible setback could set in (for gold) over the next 24 hours, but we could still end the week on a firmer note,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note. —