Gold steadied as investors weighed a week of contrasting reports on the U.S.-China trade issue.

Spot gold +0.2% to $1,467.93/oz at 7:33am in London; -0.5% Thursday. Price little changed this week. Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index +0.2% this week.

On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his nation wants to work toward a phase one trade agreement with the U.S. on the “basis of mutual respect and equality,” his first comments on a partial deal that he could potentially sign with President Donald Trump.

Other trade-related news over the course of this week: China’s chief trade negotiator Liu He indicated he was “cautiously optimistic” about reaching a phase one deal, and has invited his U.S. counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, to travel to Beijing for further talks this month. Washington will likely postpone new tariffs scheduled for December even if there’s no deal by then, the South China Morning Post reported. However, Trump may soon sign into law a bill supporting Hong Kong’s protesters, to which China has threatened retaliation.

Source : Bloomberg