Investing.com -- Gold prices corrected higher Wednesday after a sharp slide on Tuesday, as the rally in risk assets paused for breath in the absence of major fresh news on the U.S.-China trade front.
Stock markets have hit a succession of new highs in recent days as various reports have talked up the prospect of an interim trade deal that would undo some of the most recent U.S. import tariffs on Chinese goods and a significant loosening of the prohibition on U.S. companies selling to telecoms giant Huawei.
That’s drained money from haven assets such as bonds and gold, but not to the degree where investors are willing to capitulate. Speculative positions are still close to their highest levels since the heyday of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing policy, leaving gold vulnerable to any sudden improvement in the outlook for risk assets.
By 9:45 AM ET (1430 GMT), gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were up 0.4% at $1,489.25 a troy ounce, while spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,488.03.
Silver Futures fell 0.1% to $17.55 an ounce, while platinum futures were essentially unchanged at $930.05.
Analysts at JFD Bank noted that Tuesday’s slide in gold futures “stopped near the 1479 level, still within the sideways range that’s been in place since October 1st, between 1475 and 1517.”
“As long as the precious metal remains within those boundaries, we would stay sidelined,” they added.
While there’s little on the U.S. data calendar to drive prices Wednesday, comments from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans earlier left the door well open to future interest rate cuts if the U.S. economy is hit by any shock event going forward. New York Fed President John Williams (NYSE:WMB) is also due to speak Wednesday, as is Philly Fed President Patrick Harker.
Current prices are around one-third higher than the all-in costs of major producers such as Newmont Goldcorp and Barrick Gold, both of which have been able to simultaneously pay down debt and increase dividends this year. Barrick on Wednesday increased its payout by 25% to 5c a share. Even so, neither company's regular dividend matches the 1.8% now available on U.S. 10-year Treasuries.