Mubasher: Gold prices fell on Thursday after the announcement of trade talks between the US and China lent support to risk-taking sentiment, according to Reuters.

By 9:11 am GMT, spot gold fell by 0.60% to $1,543.27 per ounce to end a three-session winning streak, having hit their highest since April in the preceding session, while US gold futures dropped by 0.63% to $1,550.50 per ounce.

China’s Commerce Ministry announced on Thursday that its trade team will hold talks with their US counterparts in mid-September to lay the groundwork for high-level talks in early October.

“Gold will remain under pressure, because trade tensions have been the elephant in the room, [and] any sign there is a thawing in that situation is going to see a rotation out of gold and into growth-orientated assets,” OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley was quoted by Reuters.

The yellow metal has surged by nearly 23% this year, as the bitter trade conflict between the world’s top two economies stoked worries about a global economic downturn, spurring a monetary easing trend among central banks worldwide.

Fuelling risk-on appetite, political tensions receded after protests calmed down in Hong Kong after the withdrawal of bill to extradite suspects to China, while the UK’s Brexit-related uncertainties eased.