Gold Trade Lower as Investors Move to Risk Assets

Gold prices fell early on Friday as easing geopolitical tensions reduce safe-haven buying and investors shift to risk assets.

Gold for June delivery was last seen down US$44.30 to US$3,182.30 per ounce.

The price of the metal is down more than 7% since touching a month high of US$3,422.80 on May 6, as the United States and China retreated from their tariff battle, agreeing to scale back their import levies on each other's products that had hobbled trade between the world's two largest economies.

Calming trade issues are boosting the appeal of risk assets, pushing investors to stocks, with the S&P 500 index up 4.5% since the weekend trade agreement, checking the appeal of gold as a store of value.

The dollar edged down early, bullish for commodities priced in the currency. The ICE dollar index was last seen down 0.1 points to 100.78. Treasury yields also weakened, with the U.S. two-year note last seen paying 3.94%, down 4.2 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 3.8 points to 4.397%.