Gold prices were unchanged on Tuesday, as investors waited for clues from U.S. President Donald Trump on the status of trade talks with China and protests in Hong Kong provoked a warning from a Chinese newspaper editor.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was flat at $1,455.55 per ounce by 0057 GMT, after falling to its lowest in more than three months in the previous session.

U.S. gold futures were also unchanged at $1,456.60 per ounce.

Trump is expected to speak at the Economic Club of New York later in the day, where investors anticipate new word on the Sino-U.S. phase one trade deal.

The United States and China had agreed to roll back tariffs on each others’ goods as part of the first phase of a trade deal, but Trump denied any such agreement over the weekend.

The months-long trade war has roiled financial markets and sparked fears of a global economic slowdown, pushing the precious metal more than 13% higher this year.

Hong Kong police shot and critically wounded a protester and a man was set on fire on Monday in violence that prompted leader Carrie Lam to denounce “enemies of the people” and drew a chilling warning from a senior Chinese newspaper editor.

The events were an escalation in pro-democracy unrest in the Chinese-ruled territory that has lasted five months, as opposition to a now-withdrawn extradition bill broadened into protests against Beijing’s tightening grip on the Asian financial hub.

Asian share markets got off to a sluggish start on Tuesday amid uncertainty over both the Sino-U.S. trade talks and the Hong Kong political situation.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson won the most significant boost of the election campaign when Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party pulled out of 317 Conservative-held seats in a bid to keep Brexit opponents from controlling the next parliament.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0930 UK Claimant Count Unem Chng Oct 0930 UK ILO Unemployment Rate Sept 1000 Germany Zew Economic Sentiment Nov 1000 Germany Zew Current Conditions Nov (Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)

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