Gold steadies as dollar trims gains after U.S. growth data

By Maytaal Angel

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Friday as the dollar trimmed gains after in-line U.S. growth data, but the metal was not far off a one-week low as an agreement between the United States and Europe eased trade war fears and dented appetite for safe-haven assets.

The dollar, which earlier hit five-day highs, steadied after U.S. data showed the U.S. economy grew at a 4.1 percent annualised rate in the second quarter, the strongest performance since the third quarter of 2014.

Global shares were set for a sixth consecutive session of gains, meanwhile, on easing transatlantic trade tensions. Chinese shares, however, felt the effects of the lingering trade stand-off between Washington and Beijing, while the yuan was on course for its seventh straight week of losses.

"(Gold) is tracking the dollar, but the closest correlation right now is between gold and the yuan," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

A strong dollar makes dollar-priced gold costlier for non-U.S. investors.

Hansen added that while gold is holding above key support at $1,200 an ounce, talk of recovery before the dollar stabilises and the yuan recovers is meaningless because the metal is hostage to trade war developments and currency threats.

Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,223 an ounce at 1258 GMT, having hit a one-week low of $1,216.93, and was on track for its third weekly decline running.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery were 0.3 percent lower at $1,222.60.

In the physical markets, gold demand in India improved this week as domestic prices traded near a six-month low, while weaker rates in Singapore prompted a pick-up in demand there. Demand remained weak, however, in top consumer China as the yuan fell.

"We believe price action (in gold) is likely to be subdued in the coming weeks (as) physical demand is in the middle of a seasonally slow period, short interest in gold has risen as prices have fallen and there are 200 tonnes of loss-making ETF positions that could be liquidated," said Barclays in a note.

Spot gold is expected to fall into a range of $1,206-$1,214 an ounce, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.5 percent to $15.44, but was heading for its seventh weekly decline.

Palladium was up 0.1 percent at $928.25 but was heading for its biggest weekly gain since the week of April 20.

Platinum rose 0.1 percent to $823.75.

(Additional reporting by Karen Rodrigues and Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman and Adrian Croft)