Investing.com – Gold prices traded roughly flat Wednesday as the precious metal struggled to capitalize on dollar weakness despite weaker economic data and growing fears that Trump’s wish to slap tariffs on Chinese production could trigger a trade war.
Gold futures for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $2.10, or 0.16%, to $1,325 a troy ounce.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.1% last month. That confounded economists’ forecast for a 0.3% rise. That weighed on risk-on sentiment as market participants slashed their expectations for first-quarter economic growth.
U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports and will target the technology and telecommunications sectors, Reuters reported Tuesday.
That drew a sell-off in riskier assets Tuesday as traders feared that China would be force to retaliate, leading to a tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s largest two economies.
Yet, offsetting those fears somewhat were reports that Trump is set to pick television commentator and economic analyst Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn as the top White House economic adviser.
Mr Kudlow - a free trade advocate - reportedly accepted the position Wednesday, and conceded that he was “in accord' with Trump's policies.
“Kudlow is for free trade, low taxes, light regulation,” Amherst said.
With just a week remaining until the Federal Reserve makes a decision to stick or twist on interest rates, gold prices have struggled for upside momentum.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.49% to $16.55 a troy ounce, while platinum futures lost 0.40% to $963.40 an ounce.
Copper added 0.54% to $3.16, while natural gas fell 2.26% to $2.72.