Gold steadies on hopes of US coronavirus relief deal

Gold prices were steady near the key $1,900 per ounce level in early Asian trade on Monday supported by expectations of a new U.S. stimulus package before Election Day.

FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was little changed at $1,900.21 per ounce by 0058 GMT.


U.S. gold futures were down 0.2% at $1,902.90.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that differences remained with President Donald Trump's administration on a wide-ranging coronavirus relief package but that she was optimistic legislation could be pushed through before the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Britain and the European Union will on Monday attempt to breathe life into post-Brexit trade talks that appeared all but dead last week, with each side telling the other it needed to fundamentally change course.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Sunday there was no need to change the central bank's inflation target or forward guidance, even though the United States and Europe are reviewing their policy frameworks to seek better ways to prop up growth.

Physical gold dealers in India continued to stock up last week ahead of an expected festival sales bump, while the Golden Week in top consumer China did little to revive bullion demand.

Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.27% to 1,272.56 tonnes on Friday.

Speculators decreased their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Oct. 13, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.

Silver rose 0.1% to $24.20 per ounce, platinum

rose 0.2% to $862.09 and palladium rose 0.3% to $2,338.99.