20.08.201814:25:00UTC+00Gold Settles Higher Ahead Of US-China Trade Talks, Fed Minutes

Gold prices moved higher on Monday, rebounding strongly, after registering some sharp losses and even tanking to a near 20-month low in the previous week.

Bargain hunting ahead of release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's August meeting and trade talks between the U.S. and China lifted gold prices.

Markets across the globe expect that the U.S.-China trade talks this week will help in de-escalation of trade war tensions.

The fed's August policy meeting minutes will be out on Wednesday. The minutes, besides revealing the central bank's outlook on inflation and growth, will also provide some clues about future rate hikes.

Gold futures for December ended at $1,194.60 an ounce, up $10.40, or 0.88%, the biggest gain in a single session in nearly a month.

Gold futures ended at $1,184.20 last Friday, gaining $0.20, or 0.017%. Last week, gold futures declined by about 2.9%,

the largest weekly fall in over 15 months. In the past eight months, the yellow metal has shed nearly 11%.

Silver futures for September ended at $14.670 an ounce, gaining $0.039 in the session.

Copper futures for September settled up $0.395, at 2.6685 per pound.

The Fed had left interest rates unchanged in its August meeting, but hinted that at a couple of rate hikes this year.

Last week, Wall Street Journal had reported that Chinese and U.S. negotiators were drawing up a road map for talks to try to end their trade impasse.

Citing officials in both nations, the Journal indicated the plan would culminate in planned meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at multilateral summits in November.