Investing.com - Gold prices traded slightly lower on Friday in Asia and were near two-week lows. Brexit developments and news on Sino-U.S. trade front were in focus.
Gold futures traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 0.1% to $1,294.05per ounce by 2:00 AM ET (06:00 GMT).
The precious metal now trade near two-week lows, losing out to a dollar that proved a better hedge against Brexit and the U.S.-China trade war.
"Gold bugs have been left frustrated because of the fact other major central banks have also turned dovish, thereby keeping the dollar supported indirectly as foreign currencies tumbled," said Fawad Razqzada, analyst for forex.com in London.
"Gold needs to reclaim that $1,300/$1,305 area first to repair some technical damage. However, more pain could be on the way should the most recent low of $1281 give way now," added Razaqzada.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index was unchanged at 96.760.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.2% annualised rate in the October-December period. Economists had expected a 2.4% growth rate.
The greenback was little impacted following the release of the data as a plunge in the British pound yesterday offered support to the dollar.
The fall in the pound came after the U.K. parliament failed to pass any bills that were alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit agreement.
May will now ask U.K. lawmakers to vote on one part of her Brexit deal, the Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out the terms of the U.K.'s departure from the EU during the transition period.
On the Sino-U.S. trade front, reports on Friday said negotiations between the two sides could take weeks, or even months.
Investor sentiment improved today after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the U.S. may remove some of the tariffs on Chinese goods.
“We’re not going to give up our leverage,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that all of the tariffs would be kept in place. Some of the tariffs would be kept there. Again, when Bob Lighthizer comes back, he will illuminate all of us on that. That’s part of the negotiations and we’ll see."