Investing.com – Gold prices were mixed Friday morning in Asia, with gold, silver and copper trading lower while platinum making gains.
Gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $3.5, or 0.27%, to $1,298 a troy ounce by 11:45PM ET (03:45 GMT).
As Italian political subsided, markets saw weaker demand for safe-haven assets such as gold. The country has been unable to form a government since an election in early March, but the euroskeptic populists and pro-EU establishment lawmakers renewed efforts to build a coalition rather than force new election.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies added 0.16% to 94.11. The greenback oscillated around the 94 value on Friday morning.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration refused to extend the reprieve on tariffs on imported steel and aluminium for the EU, Canada and Mexico while threatening more tariffs on other imported products such as automobile, clouding global trade outlook. The likelihood of a full-blown trade war might cause a spike in demand for gold.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures shed 0.17% to $16.430 a troy ounce, while platinum futures added 0.20% to $908.70 an ounce. Copper lost 0.10% to $3.061.