Investing.com-- Gold prices extended declines in Asian trading on Monday, moving away from record highs as signs of easing U.S.-China trade tensions dented demand for the safe-haven metal.
As of 01:54 ET (05:54 GMT), Spot Gold fell 0.8% to $3,292.75 per ounce, while Gold Futures expiring in June edged up 0.2% to $3,303.77 an ounce.
Trump says US-China trade talks underway, but China denies claim
Media reports last week showed that China has exempted certain U.S. imports from its retaliatory 125% tariffs.
The Trump administration last week signaled willingness to ease trade tensions with China, with President Donald Trump saying tariff talks were underway and that he had spoken with his counterpart, Xi Jinping.
However, investors were still cautious as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday contradicted Trump’s earlier remarks, saying he was unaware of any ongoing tariff negotiations with China and unsure if Trump had recently spoken with Xi.
China has also denied that any talks have happened.
US data barrage this week: jobs data, Q1 GDP, PCE inflation
Investors awaited U.S. jobs data for April, scheduled for Friday.
The U.S. will also report its first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data and the Federal Reserve’s favoured inflation gauge, PCE price index, this week.
These datapoints will be crucial to gauge the Fed’s rate outlook, as it has adopted a wait-and-see approach amid global trade uncertainty.
The US Dollar Index was largely unchanged on Monday.
Among other precious metals, Silver Futures fell 0.6% to $32.807 an ounce, while Platinum futures rose 0.5% to $977.55 an ounce.
Copper inches lower; China stimulus hopes provide support
Copper prices edged lower on Monday as U.S.-China tariff tensions persisted.
Local media reports on Monday showed that Beijing planned to dole out even more measures to support the economy, and that China was confident of achieving the government’s 5% annual growth target.
A stimulus boost from China, the world’s largest copper importer, could increase demand for industrial metals.
Benchmark Copper Futures on the London Metal Exchange inched down 0.2% to $9,389.0 a ton, while Copper Futures expiring in May lost 0.4% to $4.8737 a pound.