Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower during European morning trade on Wednesday, moving further away from this week's two-month high as the metal’s safe-haven appeal was dampened amid a rally in global equity markets.
Gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $8.15, or around 0.7%, to $1,202.65 a troy ounce by 3:50AM ET (08:50GMT), after declining $4.80, or 0.4%, a day earlier.
Prices of the yellow metal jumped to a two-month peak of $1,219.40 on Monday.
Global stocks were in rally-mode, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq setting record highs on Tuesday, as investors snapped up equities amid an improved corporate earnings outlook, reducing demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and government bonds.
Market players will continue to focus on U.S. President Donald Trump for further details on his promises of tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation, as well as insight regarding policies on China and the domestic economy.
Trump signed two executive orders on Tuesday to move forward with construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, rolling back key Obama administration environmental actions in favor of expanding energy infrastructure.
He also met with chief executives of the Big Three U.S. automakers to push for more cars to be built in the U.S.
Earlier this week, Trump signed to formally withdraw the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, distancing America from its Asian allies. He also vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with leaders of Canada and Mexico.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 100.27 in European morning trade, not far from a seven-week low of 99.88 touched earlier this week.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery dropped 18.3 cents, or 1.1%, to $17.00 a troy ounce during morning hours in London.
Meanwhile, platinum lost 1.5% to $992.85, while palladium slumped 1.6% to $782.90 an ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper futures rose 0.8 cents, or about 0.3%, to $2.716 a pound amid hopes for an infrastructure boost in the U.S.