Mubasher: Gold prices were almost stable on Thursday as an uptick in equity markets countered the support from anxieties over trade talks between the US and China, Reuters reported.

At 7:09 am GMT, US gold futures inched down by 0.05% to $1,297.20 per ounce, while spot gold edged up by 0.08% to $1,297.53 per ounce.

This came ahead of the release of data pertaining to US housing starts for last April and weekly report on initial unemployment claims, both of which are due later in the day.

Asian stocks steadied on reports that Washington was planning to postpone duties on auto imports, offering some relief to markets after being hit by a re-emergence of trade tensions between the US and China as well as soft data from the world’s two biggest economies.

In the same vein of, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that he may travel to Beijing soon to resume negotiations with his Chinese counterparts in a bid to salvage talks aimed at ending their protracted trade conflict.

Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump slapped Chinese telecoms giant with severe sanctions on Wednesday.