Gold

Gold on Monday marked a new low for the year to date after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's declaration that a trade war between China and the United States was "on hold" helped boost appetite for higher-risk assets, such as stocks. Buoyancy in U.S. Treasury yields also weighed on appetite for non-interest-bearing assets, like bullion, analysts said.

Spot gold fell to its lowest since late December at $1,281.76 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled down 40 cents, or 0.03 percent, at $1,290.90 per ounce. A stronger dollar makes assets priced in the U.S. greenback more expensive for holders of other currencies, while a bounce in yields had added to pressure on gold.

Gold prices will likely meet resistance at the level of $1,300 an ounce and the 200-day moving average at $1,307, and see rangebound between $1,282-$1,307.

Silver

Silver was up 0.4 percent at $16.49 an ounce on Monday after crossing below the key mark of $16.27 during the session. The white metal outperformed bullion recently, but recent rally in the dollar index will cast a shadow on whether it could breach the resistance of $16.62. If not, we will maintain our view on rangebound trading as it could only rebound in the near term, instead of triggering a wave of rally.

 
Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
                       Huang Han