Gold slumps to nine-day lows near $1,480 on upbeat market mood

• Risk-on flows continue to dominate the market action on Friday.
• Heightened hopes of a Brexit deal weigh on safe-haven assets.
• US Dollar Index extends slide to keep gold’s losses limited.

After closing the previous day below the $1,500 handle, the XAU/USD pair extended its slide on Friday with the precious metal struggling to find demand in the risk-on atmosphere. As of writing, the pair was trading at $1,484, losing nearly $10, or 0.6%, on the day.

Safe-havens underperform on Friday

Heightened hopes of the United States (US) and China reaching a partial trade deal on reports claiming that China will agree to the US’ terms on Yuan valuation in exchange for delayed tariffs provided the inial boost to the market sentiment on Friday.

During the European trading hours, the risk appetite continued to gather strength and further weighed on gold. According to the latest headlines, the EU27 gave European Union Chief Brexit Negotiator Barnier the green light to engage in “intense negotiations” with the United Kingdom to allow markets to price a possible Brexit deal before the end of the month.

Reflecting the upbeat mood, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is now adding more than 2% on the day and major European equity indexes are posting decisive gains led by Germany’s DAX, which was last up 1.75%.

Investors will be paying close attention to headlines coming out of the US-China trade talks and  Wall Street’s performance in the second half of the day.  

Technical levels to watch for