LONDON: Gold steadied on Wednesday, consolidating around the key $1,300 level, as global stocks retreated, pointing to reduced appetite for riskier assets while investors awaited clarity on the US-China trade front.

Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $1,297.62 per ounce by 1305 GMT, having hit its highest level since April 11 at $1,303.26 on Tuesday. US gold futures edged up 0.3pc to $1,300.60 an ounce.

“There have been flows out of equities into safe havens,” said Quantitative Commodity Research analyst Peter Fertig, adding stocks turned back into the red, despite strong economic data from Germany.

The eurozone’s biggest economy, Germany rebounded in the first quarter, growing 0.4pc after zero growth in the previous three months. Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.1pc at $14.77 an ounce, while platinum fell 1.1pc to $846.30.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2019