profitaddaweb.com - Gold prices were higher in U.S. trading on Tuesday, extending gains into a third session as a risk-averse mood spread through the market ahead of an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
gold futures rose $7.55, or around 0.6%, to $1,261.55, a troy ounce by 8:40AM ET (12:40GMT), after hitting an overnight high of $1,263.70, its strongest level in a week. Meanwhile,spot gold was up $5.90 at $1,259.50.
Also on the Comex,silver futures for May delivery tacked on 16.5 cents, or about 0.9%, to $18.37 a troy ounce. It reached its highest since March 2 at $18.43 earlier.
The main focus for markets this week centers on President Donald Trump's first meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
Last week, Trump tweeted that the meeting, which is expected to cover differences over trade and North Korea, "will be a very difficult one."
That has kept investors on edge, knocking riskier assets, such as stocks, and forcing investors to seek shelter in safe-haven assets such as the yen, gold and U.S. Treasuries.
Adding to market jitters was a deadly attack by a suspected Islamic suicide bomber on a metro train in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday, that killed 14 people and injured about 50.
Investors also fretted about the Trump administration’s ability to push through the pro-growth economic agenda promised by the president on the campaign trail, such as tax reform and infrastructure spending.
Meanwhile, traders were looking ahead to Wednesday’s minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting and Friday’s U.S. jobs report, especially in light of other recent softening data.
Market experts do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates again until June. Futures traders are pricing in around a 50% chance of a hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a September increase was seen at about 75%.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
Elsewhere in metals trading,
May copper futures ticked down 0.1 cents to $2.601 a pound.
