Investing.com - Gold prices traded flat in a tight range on Monday as investors awaited a batch of key U.S. economic data and an appearance from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.
At 11:05 AM ET (16:05 GMT), gold futures for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $2.15, or 0.16%, to $1,330.65 a troy ounce, but still holding close to a three-month high of $1,349.80 reached last week.
After U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would delay the imposition of more tariffs on Chinese imports beyond an original March 1 deadline, and planned an eventual meeting with Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement, Chinese state news agency Xinhua warned that there could be “new uncertainties” in the final stage of the trade negotiations.
The news is a double-edged sword for gold: while greater risker appetite supports the currencies of emerging countries whose central banks are among the biggest buyers of the metal, the outperformance of 'riskier' assets such as equities could prompt some outflows from safer ones such as gold and bonds.
Looking ahead this week, the focus will be on Powell’s two-day testimony to Congress on the economic outlook and monetary policy, which begins Wednesday.
Markets expect the Fed chief to back the idea of an early end to the Fed's balance sheet runoff. Fed vice chairman Randal Quarles suggested last week that the pause could come “sometime in the latter half of this year with still-ample reserves in the system” and then remain on hold for some time.
On the data front, the fourth-quarter gross domestic product scheduled for Thursday will also command attention. The release of the report was delayed by the 35-day partial government shutdown.
Other economic data releases of note this week include housing starts and building permits on Tuesday, while figures on personal consumption expenditure, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, along with consumer sentiment and manufacturing are scheduled to be released on Friday.
In other metals trading, silver futures fell 0.26% at $15.873 a troy ounce by 11:08 AM ET (16:08 GMT).
Palladium futures gained 2.35% to $1,494.40 an ounce, while sister metal platinum traded up 1.27% at $856.65.
In base metals, copper advanced 0.17% to $2.953 a pound.