By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Gold futures returned to their pattern of weekly finishes in the red while clinging to the $1,500 support. Both futures and spot prices of the yellow metal slipped on Friday, after a tug of war between Yemen peace overtures and reported U.S. plans to curb Chinese activity on Wall Street.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down $8.80, or 0.6%, at $1,506.40 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, Comex futures slid 0.8% after a 1% rebound the previous week, its only positive week in the last five
Spot gold, reflective of trades in bullion, was down $6.54, or 0.4%, at $1,498.02 at 2:37 PM ET (18:37 GMT).
Gold fell more steeply earlier in the day after its safe-haven edge was blunted by reports that Saudi Arabia would agree to a ceasefire in Yemen, where it has been fighting anti-government Houthi rebels for the last four years.
Peace in Yemen, the focal point of Middle East tensions that have drawn even more attention in recent years than the Palestinian-Israeli conflct, could result in a smaller war risk premium for oil and, consequently, gold prices.
Pulling gold back from the lows was a Bloomberg report that the White House is considering ways to limit investor portfolio flows into China.
The U.S. government was also considering de-listing Chinese companies from local exchanges and examining limits on Chinese companies included in stock indexes that are managed by American firms, Bloomberg reported.
The report came as officials from the two countries were set to return to trade negotiations on Oct. 10. The White House did not immediately respond to the report.
The stock market tumbled into the red Friday after the report.