Investing.com - Gold dipped in Asia on Friday ahead of nonfarm payrolls in the US as the market awaits a widely expected Fed rate hike next week and looks for language on the impact of likely tax cuts next year.
Gold futures for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.17% to $1,251.00 a troy ounce.
China's trade balance hit $40.21 billion in November, official data on Friday showed, wider than the $35 billion expected while imports jumped 17.7%, surpassing an 11.3% gain seen and exports rose 12.3%, better than the 5.0% gain expected.
Earlier, Japan reported third quarter GDP jumped 0.6%, compared with a 0.4% gain expected on quarter and at a 2.5% pace, compared with a 1.5% rise seen on year. As well, average cash earnings rose 0.6%, missing the 0.8% gain seen on year.
Overnight, gold prices fell to four-month lows on Thursday pressured by continued dollar strength on the back of investor optimism over the progress of US tax reform.
Gold prices continued to come under pressure, heading for a third-straight day of losses as tax reform optimism continued to support an uptick in the dollar, reducing investor demand for the precious metal.
U.S. Senate Republicans agreed on Wednesday to talks with the House of Representatives on tax legislation, raising hopes that both chambers would be able to reconcile their differences on a tax bill ahead of the Dec. 22 deadline.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in U.S. dollar – A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, thus reduces demand for precious metal.
Bearish sentiment on gold comes as it slipped below a key support level of $1,260, retreating further below its 200-daily moving average.
Gold’s slump comes a day ahead of nonfarm payrolls data expected to show the US economy created 200,000 jobs in November.
Also weighing on the gold was ongoing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for third time this year at the conclusion of its next meeting on Dec.13.
According to investing.com’s fed rate monitor 100% of traders expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates in December.