Gold advances beyond $1,510 as risk-aversion takes control of markets

The precious metal lost value in USD terms on Tuesday after the positive developments surrounding the US-China trade talks triggered risk-on flows. However, disappointing data releases from China and the US 10-year and 2-year Treasury bond yield curves' inversion today caused the market sentiment to turn sour and supported the safe-haven gold. As of writing, the XAU/USD pair is trading at $1,514.50, gaining 0.87% on a daily basis.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China on Wednesday reported that retail sales in July rose 7.6% on a yearly basis to miss the market expectation of 8.6%. Additionally, industrial production in July expanded by 4.8% and fell short of analysts' estimate of 5.8%.

Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield lost nearly 4% on the day and fell below the 2-year bond yield for the first time in more than ten years and is believed to signal an upcoming recession. 

US-China trade optimism fades on Wednesday

Although the US announced its decision to postpone additional tariffs on some Chinese imports, the latest headlines suggest that this move was not necessarily a step toward a trade agreement. In fact, US Commerce Secretary Ross during an interview with CNBC today said it was premature to see where sides were in trade talks and added that the data for the next round of face-to-face talks had not been set yet.

Reflecting the sour market sentiment, Wall Street opened the day with heavy losses. Minutes after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.22% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were losing 1.45% and 1.75%, respectively.

Technical levels to watch for