Investing.com – Gold prices fell on Monday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that a trade war between China and the U.S. is now on hold.
Gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $3.9, or 0.3%, to $1,287.4 a troy ounce by 12:52AM ET (04:52 GMT).
Meanwhile, the dollar opened the week rising against the other major currencies in Asia, climbing to a fresh new high this year. Risk appetite revived following Mnuchin’s comments over the weekend.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies last stood at 93.79, up 0.21% at 12:09AM ET (04:09 GMT). It was the highest level since mid-December last year.
The dollar picked up as China and the U.S. agreed to halt imposing punitive import tariffs. Chinese and American negotiators set up a framework to address the trade imbalances.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that the trade war with China is now put on hold. "We are putting the trade war on hold. Right now, we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework," Mnuchin said.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – a gain in the dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus decreases demand for the precious metal.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.4% to $16.390 a troy ounce, and platinum futures slipped 0.5% to $882.7 an ounce.