Gold Prices Edge up as U.S. Dollar Slips

Investing.com - Gold prices edged up on Tuesday in Asia as the U.S. dollar fell.

Gold futures for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange traded 0.3% higher at $1,252.70 a troy ounce by 1:24 AM ET (05:24 GMT).

The yellow metal notched its biggest weekly gain since August last week.

A fourth rate hike for this year is expected next week, but the road from there is unclear. While Fed policymakers have pointed to three increases in 2019, the market is only anticipating one.

Lower interest rates can give gold a lift as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.

The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies traded 0.1% lower to 97.058.

The dollar received some support earlier in the day, reportedly due to Brexit uncertainty. U.K. prime minister Theresa May called off Tuesday’s vote on her Brexit deal so she could go back to Brussels and ask for changes to it.

The news was said to be supportive for the safe-haven dollar, as the market judged the risk of no-deal Brexit has increased.

Meanwhile, U.S.-China relations also remained in focus following the arrest of CFO at China’s Huawei Technologies last week.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spoke on the phone on Tuesday to discuss the roadmap for the next stage of their trade talks.

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