Gold heads for biggest monthly drop in 3 years on US-China talks optimism

The precious metal is down 3.6% this month, the most since November 2016, when Trump won the US presidential election

Gold headed for its biggest monthly drop in three years on signs the US and China are edging closer to a phase-one trade deal, easing demand for haven assets.

President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that talks on the first phase of a trade agreement were nearly done after negotiators from both sides spoke by phone. Still, clouding the outlook was possible fallout from Trump signing legislation expressing US support for Hong Kong protesters. While that prompted China to threaten retaliation, Beijing stopped short of any immediate action and didn’t offer any details.

The precious metal is down 3.6% this month, the