2019.01.1814:22:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Notably Lower As Dollar, Stocks Rise

Gold prices drifted lower on Friday as traders rushed to pick up riskier assets amid increasing signs of a good progress in U.S.-China trade talks.

Stock markets across the globe displayed strength after reports indicated both China and the U.S. are taking steps to resolve their trade disputes.

Markets in Asia and Europe ended on a buoyant note. On Wall Street, stocks are currently gaining significant ground in positive territory.

The dollar index was moving up 0.3%.

Gold futures for February ended down $9.70, or about 0.8%, at $1,282.60 an ounce.

On Thursday, gold futures ended down $1.50, or 0.1%, at $1,292.30 an ounce. For the week, gold futures shed 0.5%, registering their first weekly loss since mid December.

Silver futures for March settled at $15.399 an ounce, down $0.137 from Thursday's close.

Copper futures for March ended at $2.719 per pound, gaining $0.039 for the session.

According to a report from Bloomberg News, China has offered to go on a six-year buying spree to ramp up imports from the U.S. It said further that China would seek to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. by increasing annual goods imports by a combined value of more than $1 trillion.

Earlier, on Thursday, there was a report from Wall Street Journal that U.S. officials were considering lifting tariffs on Chinese imports to give Beijing a reason to make deeper concessions in ongoing trade talks.

According to reports, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington on Jan. 30 and 31 to hold the latest round of trade talks after positive negotiations in Beijing last week.

In U.S. economic news today, a preliminary report from the University of Michigan said the consumer sentiment index plummeted to 90.7 in January from the final December reading of 98.3. Economists had expected the index to dip to 97.0.

With the much steeper than expected drop, the consumer sentiment index tumbled to its lowest level since hitting 87.2 in October of 2016.

Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin said, "The loss was due to a host of issues including the partial government shutdown, the impact of tariffs, instabilities in financial markets, the global slowdown, and the lack of clarity about monetary policies."

Meanwhile, a separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production increased by 0.3% in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.4% in November.

Economists had expected industrial production to edge up by 0.2% compared to the 0.6% advance originally reported for the previous month.