2020.01.1609:48:00UTC+00Gold Lacks Firm Direction After Sino-US Trade Deal

Gold prices were narrowly mixed on Thursday after the United States and China signed a trade truce, helping ease investors' concerns of further escalation in the costly conflict.

Spot gold was marginally lower at $1,555.30 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures edged up around 0.1 percent to $1,555.35.

The prospect of no further escalation in the economically damaging trade war helped improve investor sentiment somewhat as the U.S. and China finally signed the long-awaited "Phase One" trade deal, with tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imports still in place.

The phase one trade deal calls for China to purchase $200 billion worth of U.S. goods over the next two years, including up to $50 billion worth of agricultural products.

In exchange, the U.S. will scrap a new round of tariffs and cut tariffs on approximately $120 billion worth of Chinese goods in half to 7.5 percent.

Trump noted a 25 percent tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports will remain in place in order to give the U.S. leverage as the two countries enter into phase two negotiations.

The U.S. dollar edged lower on improved sentiment. U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday expressed confidence they have borrowing costs at the right level to sustain growth and lift inflation to healthier levels, despite uncertainty over U.S. trade policy.