Gold prices hold sharp gains as soft US jobs data fuels Fed rate cut bets
Oct 18 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Friday after
Britain managed to eke out a deal for its exit from the European
Union, lifting risk appetite, while a sluggish dollar provided
support to the metal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was unchanged at $1,491.62 an ounce as of
0057 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 shed 0.2% to $1,495.40 per
ounce
* Asian shares inched higher following Britain's deal with
the European Union, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.1%. MKTS/GLOB
* The dollar slipped to a near eight-week low in the
previous session, keeping gold prices propped up. USD/
* European Union leaders unanimously backed a new Brexit
deal with Britain on Thursday, leaving Prime Minister Boris
Johnson facing a battle to secure the UK parliament's backing
for the agreement if he is to take Britain out of Europe on Oct.
31. * Johnson said he was confident that parliament would
approve the deal. But the arithmetic in the vote is not simple.
* Lifting gold's safe-haven appeal, weak retail sales data
and industrial output report out of the United States fanned
fears about the health of the world's biggest economy, amid the
prolonged Sino-U.S. trade dispute.
* The Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday that China
hoped to reach a phased agreement with the United States over
trade as early as possible, and make progress on cancelling
tariffs on each others' goods. * China is expected to post its weakest economic growth in
at least 27-1/2 years later in the session, raising pressure on
Beijing to roll out more stimulus to counter the effects of the
costly trade war. * The International Monetary Fund on Thursday welcomed signs
of a de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions but said an
urgent updating of trade rules was needed to restore strong
growth to the global economy. * Palladium XPD= was flat around $1,758.53 after having
notched a fresh high of $1,783.21 an ounce in the previous
session.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0200 China Urban Investment (YTD) YY Sept
0200 China Industrial Output YY Sept
0200 China Retail Sales YY Sept
0200 China GDP YY Q3
0800 EU Current Account NSA, SA EUR Aug
1130 India FX Reserves, USD Weekly
1400 US Leading Index Chg MM Sept