Gold halts 2-session skid to settle modestly higher as dollar slips
Gold futures settled modestly higher Wednesday, ending a two-session slide as the dollar edged lower. August gold closed $6.30, or 0.5%, higher at $1,231.80 an ounce. There were few catalysts to sway the metal but traders keyed in on weakness in the popular ICE U.S. Dollar Index , a gauge of the buck against six rival currencies, as a catalyst to purchase beleaguered gold, which has hovered around a year low. Greenback’s gauge was trading down about 0.1% at 94.466, in late Wednesday afternoon trade. A weaker dollar can make commodities priced in the unit more attractive to buyers using other currencies. Overall, gold has been in a decided downtrend of late, with Wednesday’s action offering a slight glimmer of hope, coming also as assets perceived as risky, like U.S. stocks, were mostly trading higher. The S&P 500 index was up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.5%. Only the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged behind its equity-benchmark peers, off 0.2%, weighed by a decline in Boeing Co. fresh off its quarterly results. A percolating trade spat between the U.S. and Europe has been in focus on the day, with a key test under way in the form of a meeting between European Union’s top official and President Donald Trump, in an attempt to alleviate tariff tensions that could prove disruptive to global markets and economies.