Investing.com - Gold prices were at a two-week low in European morning trade on Thursday, as stocks around the world extended a rally after the Dow climbed past 20,000 for the first time overnight, dampening the metal’s safe-haven appeal.
Gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $2.00, or around 0.2%, to $1,195.85 a troy ounce by 4:10AM ET (09:10GMT), after declining $13.00, or about 1.1%, a day earlier.
Prices of the yellow metal slumped to their lowest since January 13 at $1,192.60 on Wednesday, pulling back from two-month highs of $1,219.40 touched earlier this week.
Global stocks remained in full rally-mode on Thursday as investors snapped up equities amid an improved corporate earnings outlook, reducing demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and government bonds.
The Dow closed atop the 20,000-mark for the first time on Wednesday, boosted by solid earnings. Investors are also turning more optimistic as President Donald Trump begins to offer more details of his policies.
Trump signed two executive orders on Tuesday to move forward with construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, rolling back key Obama administration environmental actions in favor of expanding energy infrastructure.
He also signed orders rolling back some regulation and environmental rules, in order to expedite approval of infrastructure projects.
But concerns over his protectionist stance remain after Trump signed executive orders on immigration on Wednesday, including one of border security and the intent to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Earlier this week, the president signed to formally withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with leaders of Canada and Mexico.
Market players will continue to focus on Trump for further details on his promises of tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation, as well as insight regarding policies on China and the domestic economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 100.10 in European morning trade, after falling to a seven-week low of 99.77 overnight.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery dropped 6.2 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.91 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, platinum tacked on 0.4% to $985.20, while palladium added 0.6% to $740.17 an ounce, after plunging 7.5% in the prior session.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper futures rose 0.8 cents, or about 0.3%, to $2.718 a pound, the most since June 2015, amid hopes for an infrastructure boost in the U.S.