Mubasher: Gold edged up on Monday but traded below the $1,500 threshold after the US and China reached a partial trade deal last week, which saw Washington suspending tariffs on Chinese products scheduled for this week, according to financial portal Investing.com.

By 10:22 am GMT, spot gold rose by 0.48% to $1,496.20 per ounce, while US gold futures climbed by 0.69% to $1,498.90 per ounce.

US President Donald Trump said that Washington and Beijing drafted a “very substantial phase one deal” to end the prolonged trade conflict.

In return, China agreed to buy between $40 billion and $50 billion worth of farm products, Trump said.

Immediately after the announcement, gold prices as risk-taking sentiment mounted, while investors dumped safe-haven assets.

“The trade deal was short on detail, but is still going to be enough to probably support risk, and that will be negative for gold,” OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley was quoted by Reuters.

In addition, data from China added to concerns that the world’s second top economy was impacted by the ongoing trade dispute, with exports falling more than expected last September.

This came along with anticipations for talks between the UK and the European Union (EU) later in the day, ahead of a crunch summit on Thursday and Friday.

Both London and Brussels said that more work would be needed to reach a deal on the UK’s departure from the bloc due on 31 October.

“We remain optimistic on bullion prospects as central banks enact for monetary-policy easing programmes over looming downside risks in the global economy,” a note by Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu was quoted by Reuters.