Gold prices dipped on Thursday, breaking a string of gains for four successive sessions, in response to a decline in global political tensions. Spot gold lost 0.2 percent at $1,346.20 per ounce by 1:38 pm EDT (1738 GMT), while June US gold futures settled down $4.70, or 0.4 percent, at $1,348.80 per ounce.
"Uncertainty has decreased somewhat. Geopolitical worries, trade risk have moved to the background," said ABN AMRO commodity strategist Georgette Boele. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be successful while Western missile strikes in Syria were less extensive than some had feared.
Earlier in the week, a senior administration official said Trump delayed imposing additional sanctions on Russia. Boele said she expected gold to decline to around $1,330 after failing to break above resistance.
"There was a bit of upward momentum, but you are still in the $1,300-$1,365 range. It's more of a technical trade at the moment - it tries the upside again and if that doesn't succeed then it falls back." Rising yields make gold a less attractive investment because it does not draw interest.
Meanwhile, spot silver prices rose 0.6 percent to $17.25 per ounce after touching their highest since February 1 of $17.35. "A bounce in silver is not a surprise to me because you have lower liquidity and it's more sensitive to sentiment," Boele said, adding that she expected silver to follow gold lower in coming days or weeks.
Silver has been the worst performing precious metal over the past six months, little changed versus a rise of 4.5 percent for gold and 7.7 percent for palladium. Platinum lost 0.2 percent at $933.24 per ounce. It touched more than a three-week high of $953.50 earlier in the day.
Palladium fell 0.3 percent to $1,032.40 per ounce, after marking its highest since February 27 of $1,057.20.
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