WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices drifted lower on Wednesday, extending losses to a third successive session, as investors weighed geopolitical news and the Federal Reserve Chairman's testimonies about the central bank's monetary policy stance.
Despite the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan after the recent terror attack in Pulwama and the Indian Air Force's raid that destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps in Pakistan and the high profile Donald Trump - Kim Jong Un meet, the yellow metal stayed weak today.
Uncertainty about U.S.-China trade deal increased after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that China needs to go beyond pledging to buy more U.S. goods to reach to a long-term trade agreement.
'We can compete with anyone in the world, but we must have rule, enforced rules, that make sure market outcomes and not state capitalism and technology theft determine winners,' Lighthizer said. His comments, however, failed to push up gold prices.
Gold futures for April ended down $7.30, or 0.6%, at $1,321.20 an ounce.
On Tuesday, gold futures ended down $1.00, or about 0.7%, at $1,328.50 an ounce.
Silver futures for March ended down $0.160, at $15.766 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.9625 per pound, gaining $0.0120 for the session.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors' report said its pending home sales index spiked by 4.6% to 103.2 in January after tumbling by 2.3% to a downwardly revised 98.7 in December. Economists had expected pending home sales to rise by 0.4%.
Meanwhile, a government shutdown-delayed report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for manufactured goods rose by much less than anticipated in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said factory orders inched up by 0.1% in December after falling by a revised 0.5% in November. Economists had expected orders to climb by 0.5%.
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