2020.01.0909:57:00UTC+00Gold Prices Fall As US-Iran Tensions Ease

Gold prices fell on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump's comments eased fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Spot gold dropped half a percent to $1,547.76 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.7 percent at $1,548.95.

Trump said that there were no American casualties as a result of Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops and that the U.S. would hit Iran with new sanctions but not respond militarily.

Tehran said the strikes "concluded" its response to the Soleimani killing.

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft told the UN that America stands "ready to engage without preconditions in serious negotiations with Iran, with the goal of preventing further endangerment of international peace and security or escalation by the Iranian regime".

Iran's UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi wrote that Tehran "does not seek escalation or war" after exercising its right to self-defense by taking a "measured and proportionate military response targeting an American air base in Iraq".

A stronger dollar also weighed on gold prices after data showed U.S. private-sector employment picked up in December.