Gold falls as trade tensions soften, US data on tap

Gold fell more than 1% on Tuesday as signals of easing US-China trade tensions reduced some safe-haven demand, while investors braced for key economic data this week to gauge the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.

Spot gold was down 1.2% at $3,300.57 an ounce as of 9:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT). U.S. gold futures fell 1.1% to $3,310.20.

“There is some optimism that there will be some de-escalation of the trade war between the U.S. and China,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

“We’ve seen the equity markets rebound over the course of the last several sessions. So there’s been a bit of a lesser need for safe havens like gold.”

President Donald Trump’s administration plans to lessen the effect of auto tariffs by lowering taxes on foreign parts used in U.S.-made cars and making sure imported cars aren’t hit with multiple tariffs, officials said.

Softening trade tensions has caused a sell-off in safe-haven gold, a traditional hedge against rising global instabilities, which rose in an unprecedented rally to notch a record high at $3,500.05/oz last week.

For gold futures, “first resistance is seen at this week’s high of $3,363.80 and then at last Friday’s high of $3,384.10. First support is seen at $3,300.00 and then at last week’s low of $3,270.80,” Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals wrote in a note.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday several top trading partners had made “very good” proposals to avoid U.S. tariffs. China’s recent moves to exempt certain U.S. goods from its retaliatory tariffs showed a willingness to de-escalate trade tensions, Bessent added.

On investors’ radar now is a slew of important U.S. economic data this week, including the personal consumption expenditures price index on Wednesday, and a monthly non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

Spot silver rose 0.1% to $33.2 an ounce, platinum eased 0.3% to $983.26 and palladium lost 0.8% to $941.51.