Gold lost some of its radiance on Monday, with weakness attributed to cautiously upbeat expectations about American and Chinese economic negotiations seen taking some luster out of the precious metal.
Precious metal delivery for December for Comex was down $6.70, or 0.5 percent, to $1,456.9 per ounce, while December's silver delivery fell back 11 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $16.88 per ounce.
"Improving risk appetite is never good news for gold prices, trading at the beginning of the week a little lower," Craig Erlam, Oanda top market strategist disclosed in a statement. "The fact that positive news stories fuel this only further hurts the yellow metal," Erlam added.
Global commodities and equity markets have risen, while US stocks have clinched new records of up-to-date expectations and a host of positive corporate mergers.
The planned tie-ups include Charles Schwab Corp, a very influential discount dealer, which is expected to buy smaller competitor TD Ameritrade (AMTD) in an all-stock transaction worth about $26 billion, and luxury retailer LVMH, aiming to snap up US jeweler Tiffany & Co. in cash for approximately $16.2 billion.
Contributing to the positive tone, a document called for more protection of intellectual property rights was released by the Chinese the government on Sunday.
"The move indicates that core compromises are being made to boost the chances of a partial US-China deal that gives traders another opportunity to capitalize on taking risk-on trading activity," Han Tan, FXTM market analyst wrote in a company memo.
Remarks by US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien over the weekend were also in the spotlight. At a security conference in Halifax, O'Brien told reporters that a "step one" agreement between Washington and Beijing was still feasible by the end of the year, Reuters said.
O'Brien also cautioned that the US would not "turn a blind eye to what is occurring in regions like Hong Kong or what is happening in the South China Sea or other areas of the world."
Oil prices have fallen on Monday, with the West Texas Intermediate oil futures for January delivery retreating down 6 cents, or about 0.1 percent, at $57.71 a barrel.
In other metals, platinum for January delivery was up 7.8 percent to $900.40 per ounce, while palladium for December delivery added 1.6 percent to $1,771.40 per ounce.
Also, weighing on prices of the yellow metal is a possible delay in the US Federal Reserve's rate cuts, analysts said. This year, the central bank has already trimmed down interest rates three times.
