2019.05.2414:53:00UTC+00Gold Futures Come Off 1-week High, Settle Marginally Down

Gold futures came off 1-week highs and ended marginally down on Friday, as equities moved higher on increased risk appetite after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal.

The dollar lost ground against most major currencies amid speculation the Federal Reserve might consider a rate cut after data from IHS Markit showed on Thursday that U.S. manufacturing activity dropped to its weakest pace in about ten years in May amid escalating trade tensions with China.

The dollar index dropped to 97.55, losing more than 0.3%.

Gold futures for June ended down $1.80, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,283.60 an ounce.

On Thursday, gold futures for June up $11.20, or 0.9%, at $1,285.40 an ounce.

For the week, gold futures gained about 0.6%.

Silver futures for July ended down $0.058, at $14.555 an ounce, while Copper futures for July ended at $2.6995 per pound, gaining $0.0190 for the session.

Besides the slowdown in manufacturing activity, data showing a drop in U.S. new home sales in April too pointed to a possible slowdown in economic growth.

In U.S. economic news today, durable goods orders tumbled by 2.1% in April after jumping by a downwardly revised 1.7% in March.

Economists had expected orders to slump by 2% compared to the 2.6% spike that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders were unchanged in April following a revised 0.5% drop in March. Economists had expected a 0.2% uptick.

On the trade front, Trump said on Thursday that Washington's complaints against Huawei Technologies might be resolved within the framework of a U.S.-China trade deal.

At the same time, he called the Chinese telecommunications giant "very dangerous."

"You look at what they've done from a security standpoint, a military standpoint. Very dangerous," Trump told reporters at the White House.