Investing.com - Gold prices moved lower in midmorning trade on Friday but were still on track for weekly gains of around 1% as demand for the safe haven asset increased this week on the back of geopolitical tensions.
At 10:59AM ET (14:59GMT), gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $1.70, or around 0.1%, to $1,302.70 a troy ounce.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his June 12 summit with Korean leader Kim Jong-Un because of what he called the “tremendous anger and open hostility” from Pyongyang.
However, Trump described on Friday a conciliatory statement from North Korea saying it remained willing to meet with the U.S. as “warm and productive”, suggesting that the door was not completely closed on eventual talks.
Escalating friction between China and the U.S. on trade issues also served to increase appetite for the safe haven asset this week. U.S. President Donald Trump gave a bleak outlook on Wednesday, calling for a “different structure” in trade negotiations and suggesting that the current deal will be “too hard to get done”.
Global traders were also eyeing political developments in Europe. In Italy, politicians are attempting to move forward to form government with a vote expected as early as next week. As that uncertainty eases, nearby Spain took up the baton on Friday. The lead opposition party announced that its plan to push for a no-confidence motion against current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
As far as Friday’s economic calendar, Fed chairman Jerome Powell caused no waves in his participation at the Sveriges Riskbank Conference in Stockholm as he focused on transparency and accountability of central banks in his speech.
Separately, Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic, Chicago Fed chief Charles Evans and Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan will participate in a panel discussion at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas conference entitled "Technology-Enabled Disruption: Implications for Business, Labor Markets and Monetary Policy" in Dallas at 11:45AM ET (15:45GMT).
On the data front, durable goods orders fell more than expected in May, although the core reading, excluding transport, and the orders most aligned with business investment both rose more than forecast.
The University of Michigan’s revision to consumer sentiment disappointed with an unexpected decline, but consumer expectations, that measures sentiment for the next sixth months, fell much less than feared.
In other metals trading, silver futures fell 0.9% at $16.535 a troy ounce by 11:00AM ET (15:00GMT).
Palladium futures dropped 0.4% to $963.70 an ounce, while sister metal platinum slid 1.4% at $900.30.
In base metals, copper traded down 0.6% to $3.078 a pound.