WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices gave up early gains to turn flat on Wednesday after reports of breakthrough in coronavirus treatment.
A leading British scientist has made a significant breakthrough in the race for a coronavirus vaccine by reducing a part of the normal development time from 'two to three years to just 14 days', Sky news reported.
The vaccine will be too late for this current outbreak but it will be crucial if there is another one, Sky said.
Separately, China's Changjiang daily reported that a research team at Zhejiang University had found two new drugs that can effectively 'inhibit coronavirus'.
Spot gold was little changed at $1,555.75, after falling 1.5 percent on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures were also trading flat at $1,555.15.
The downside was capped after a private sector survey showed that growth in China's services sector slowed for a second straight month in January.
Elsewhere, data out of Europe proved to be a mixed bag. PMI data out of the Eurozone pointed to an improvement in the economy and a measure of the U.K. service sector rebounded at a faster-than-estimated pace in January, while Eurozone retail sales declined more than expected in December on weak food and non-food product sales.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow conceded on Tuesday that the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus in China will affect its ability to purchase massive amounts of U.S. goods and services as part of the phase one trade deal that is set to take effect this month.
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