Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,243.91 per ounce, as of 0415 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were 0.1 percent lower at $1,249.3 per ounce.
“Market sentiment is neutral today… We’ve got a little more positive sentiment than we anticipated from U.S.-China trade tensions, which is weighing on the topside,” said Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA in Singapore.
“Dollar hasn’t made much moves and that’s the real signpost for gold as they are still highly correlated.”
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major rivals, was steady at 97.069, after retreating from a near one-month high overnight.
Meanwhile, Asian shares advanced on signs of easing trade tensions between the world’s top two economies, and expectations that China will step up efforts soon to support its cooling economy.
However, analysts see uncertainties around the Brexit deal and expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dovish tone at its meeting next week, supporting the yellow metal.
Markets are not expecting more than one rate hike from the U.S. central bank next year, after a likely interest rate increase at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Dec. 18-19.
“We are still gonna have a lot of noise coming out of Brexit and that should definitely keep gold bid for a while,” Innes said.
