Gold fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the UK, dimming bullion’s safe-haven appeal, while attention shifted to U.S.-China talks this weekend.
Spot gold fell 0.8% to $3,277.67 an ounce, as of 0217 GMT. U.S. gold futures lost 0.7% to $3,282.80.
Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a “breakthrough deal”. A 10% tariff on goods imported from the UK remains in place, while Britain agreed to lower its tariffs to 1.8% from 5.1% and provide greater access to U.S. goods.
“I think the progress in trade talks and the U.S.-UK deal is the main reason we’ve got gold off the highs,” Capital.com’s financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
“High level talks over the weekend between the U.S. and China are also driving flows away from gold.”
Trump said on Thursday he expects there to be substantive negotiations between the United States and China on trade this weekend and predicted that punitive U.S. tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down.
Gold, traditionally seen as a hedge against economic and political uncertainties, thrives in a low interest rate environment.
Gold prices surge
Several U.S. Federal Reserve officials are due to speak later in the day for further insights into the economy and the Fed’s policy path. This comes after Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday and warned of rising inflation and unemployment risks.
Meanwhile, the inflow into physically backed gold exchange-traded funds in April was the largest since March, 2022, with China-listed funds leading the move due to the country’s trade war with the U.S., data from the World Gold Council showed on Thursday.
Spot silver fell 0.7% to $32.27 an ounce, platinum rose 0.2% to $977.85 and palladium fell 0.4% to $971.86.
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