Gold pressured as trade optimism lifts risk appetite

The US-China trade dispute, signs of slowing global corporate earnings and business investment have all put pressure on riskier assets in the past year, so investors have been quick to lap-up positive news.

Asian stocks hovered below a nine-month peak on Tuesday after disappointing bank earnings dented Wall Street, though recent signs the global economy is likely to avoid a sharper downturn helped limit the losses.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan had risen to a peak since July 2018 on Monday after strong data from China and expectations that Chinese and US trade negotiators would strike a deal.

United States Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox Business Network on Monday that trade negotiations between the Washington and their Chinese counterparts were "making a lot of progress."

The United States was "going to win either way," irrespective of its trade negotiations with China, President Donald Trump said on Monday.

Major currencies remained confined to well-trodden ranges on Tuesday, as markets look next to European and Chinese data for more evidence that the worst may be over for the global economy.

A Reuters poll suggested China's first quarter economic growth likely cooled to the weakest pace in at least 27 years, with stimulus measures expected to lift the economic mood in the future.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.50 percent to 754.03 tonnes on Monday from 757.85 tonnes on Friday.

Kazakhstan raised gold holdings by 5.38 tonnes to 361.68 tonnes in March, data from the International Monetary Fund showed.

Canada's Lundin Mining Corp is looking to buy more mining assets, Chief Executive Marie Inkster told Reuters on Monday, after the company announced its purchase of a Brazilian copper-gold mine from Yamana Gold Inc for more than $1 billion.

India's gold smugglers have slowed their operations over worries their shipments will be caught up in seizures of cash, bullion, booze and drugs that are aimed at controlling vote-buying in the country's national elections, industry officials told Reuters.