Mubasher: Gold prices fell on Tuesday, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s speech, in which investors hoped he would signal progress on the trade negotiations with China, Reuters said.

By 8:04 am GMT, spot gold dropped by 0.34% to $1,450.92 per ounce, US gold futures fell by 0.30% to $1,452.80 per ounce.

President Trump’s speech at the Economic Club of New York will be closely monitored, as markets were anticipating positive indications about the trade talks to end a 16-month trade conflict between the world’s two top economies.

“Investors are expecting constructive news from Trump after he said trade talks with China were moving along very nicely and as the time for the speech is approaching closer it is impacting gold negatively,” Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau was quoted by Reuters.

Dragging further the precious metal, Asian equity markets edged higher as investors were awaiting Trump’s address, while the US dollar firmed up against major peers.

The US dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against six key rivals, inched up by 0.09% to 98.2870.

“New developments in the US-China trade war or any data that point towards inflation rate element will impact gold prices,” ABC Bullion global general manager Nicholas Frappell was quoted by the news agency.