09.10.201907:10:00UTC+00Gold Prices Mixed Ahead Of US-China Trade Talks

Gold prices were trading mixed on Wednesday ahead of U.S.-China trade talks that are set to begin on Thursday in Washington.

Spot gold eased 0.2 percent to $1,502.38 per ounce while U.S. gold futures were up 0.25 percent at $1,507.45.

Prospects for progress in U.S.-China trade talks dimmed after the Trump administration imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials and also expanded its trade blacklist to include some of China's top artificial intelligence startups.

The Trump administration is also moving ahead with discussions around possible restrictions on capital flows into China, with a focus on investments made by U.S. government pension funds, Bloomberg reported.

According to CNBC, China has "strongly urged" the U.S. government to remove Chinese firms from its blacklist and to stop making irresponsible remarks on the issue of Xinjiang.

Elsewhere, the British government signaled that it intends to bring a revised Brexit deal back to Parliament, raising hopes that a deal could yet be reached before 31 October.

According to a report in The Times, the EU is ready to make a major concession on a Brexit deal by providing a mechanism for the Northern Irish assembly to leave a new Irish backstop after a set number of years.

It's a quiet day on the economic calendar, though investors will keep an eye on minutes from the Fed's policy gathering committee last month for additional clues on the outlook for interest rates.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday flagged openness to further rate cuts and indicated the central bank intends to resume increasing the size of its balance sheet in order to ensure money markets function smoothly.