Gold was little changed on Thursday following a steep fall in the previous session, as investors waited on any Sino-U.S. trade developments later this week, while bulls rolled back hopes of big U.S. interest rate cuts. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,407.25 per ounce at 0350 GMT. Prices fell more than 1% in the previous session after U.S. Federal Reserve officials dented expectations of aggressive interest rate cuts. U.S. gold futures were 0.3% lower at $1,411 an ounce. "There appears to be some fatigue around preannouncements on the trade issues … If we don't see any sort of agreement, then we can see support for gold coming back, but in the meantime that modulation is expected to weigh on gold prices," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist, CMC Markets. "This looks like a corrective action at the moment," he said, adding that a slight uptick in the U.S. dollar is also pressuring gold prices. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping was possible this weekend but warned he was prepared to impose U.S. tariffs on virtually all remaining Chinese imports if talks fail. Trump raised the possibility that he may impose a lower, 10% duty on a $300 billion list of Chinese imports, instead of the proposed 25% rate. He also weighed into U.S. monetary policy, accusing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell of doing a "bad job" and "out to prove how tough he is" by not cutting interest rates. This comes after Powell said the central bank was "insulated from short-term political pressures," pushing back against Trump's demand for a significant rate cut. The latest comments from Fed officials lifted the U.S. dollar index from three-months lows touched earlier this week. "Even though the Fed has hinted at an upcoming rate cut, the comments of 50 basis points being too much could end up with the central bank holding rates steady if economic indicators rebound in the short term," Alfonso Esparza, a senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.22% to 797.85 tonnes on Wednesday. On the technical side, spot gold may stabilize around a support at $1,404 per ounce, and bounce towards a resistance at $1,421, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Among other precious metals, silver edged 0.1% higher to $15.25 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.3% to $811.41. Palladium rose 0.3% to $1,527 an ounce. Source: Reuters
