Gold prices rise amid uncertainty over China-U.S. agreement; CPI due

Investing.com--Gold prices rose Wednesday amid uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-China trade agreement, and ahead of the latest U.S. inflation release. 

At 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT), spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,329.70 an ounce, while gold futures for August gained 0.2% to $3,350.10/oz. 

Uncertainty over trade framework

The U.S. and China announced a framework agreement for trade late Tuesday, with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying it will put "meat on the bones" on a prior deal struck in Geneva last month, which, despite easing some fears over an intensifying trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies, has shown signs of fragility.

However, Tuesday’s announcement was short of particulars, and would have to be approved by both U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“Any positive developments from the talks could provide headwinds for gold prices while a stalemate in talks is likely to renew the precious metals appeal," said Zain Vawda, Market Analyst at OANDA. "From a technical analysis standpoint, gold has broken the bear flag pattern on the daily timeframe and has now completed a potential retest of the breakout."

"While such a trading pattern is usually seen as bullish, the macro economic factors at play may be something to consider. If positive news comes from U.S.-China talks, this setup could fail very quickly as the price of gold may fall. If it does not though, then a run toward the $3400/oz level and beyond starts to look like a real possibility.”

Additionally, a U.S. appeals court ruled to keep Trump’s trade tariffs in place, at least until it decides on an earlier trade court ruling that sought to block the tariffs. 

Tuesday’s ruling leaves Trump’s plans for his “liberation day” tariffs, which outline steep levies against major trading partners, largely in place, ahead of an early-July deadline for their implementation. 

US CPI data due 

Focus was now squarely on key U.S. consumer price index inflation data, due later on Wednesday, for more cues on the world’s largest economy.

The print is expected to show inflation firmed slightly in May, remaining sticky around levels seen through most of 2025. U.S. price pressures had largely stalled their downturn in recent months, with disruptions stemming from Trump’s tariffs also pushing up consumer prices. 

The dollar has slipped lower ahead of the CPI data, and this has helped gold push even higher.

China adds gold to reserves 

China’s central bank added gold to its reserves for a seventh consecutive month in May, creating strong underlying demand for the yellow metal.

The People’s Bank of China added 60,000 troy ounces of gold to its reserves last month, taking the total to 73.83 million troy ounces.

Elsewhere, platinum futures surged 3.6% to $1,255.65/oz, remaining close to an over four-year peak, while silver futures fell 0.9% to $36.328/oz, falling back from their highest level in over 13 years. 

Among industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.4% to $9,620.00 a ton, while U.S. copper futures dropped 2.3% to $4.7860 a pound. 

 Ambar Warrick contributed to this article