Gold Prices Fall to 2019 Low

London (Jan 21)  Gold prices fell on Monday to their lowest level of the year, as investor appetite for risk held up despite data showing China's 2018 economic growth slowed to a near three-decade low.

Comex gold futures were down $5.35, or around 0.4%, to $1,277.25 a troy ounce by 7:40AM ET (12:40 GMT). The precious metal hit a low of $1,276.80 earlier, the weakest since Dec. 28.

There will be no floor trading on the Comex on Monday because of the Martin Luther King Day holiday in the U.S. All electronic transactions will be booked with Tuesday's trades for settlement.

Meanwhile, spot gold was trading at $1,278.11 per ounce, down $3.50, or almost 0.3%.

China's fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis, easing to 6.4% on-year as expected from 6.5% in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said earlier.

That pulled full-year growth down to 6.6%, the slowest annual pace since 1990, as faltering domestic demand and bruising U.S. tariffs weighed.

The weak data supported the view that Beijing will have to roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown.

Meanwhile, investors are waiting to hear British Prime Minister Theresa May's 'Plan B' for Brexit, which is due to be presented to parliament later in the day. Her initial deal, negotiated over nearly two years with the European Union, was rejected by lawmakers last week.

May will make a statement in parliament at about 15:30 GMT (10:30 AM ET) as she looks to secure a fresh withdrawal agreement before the March 29 deadline to leave the EU.

Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures lost 16.1 cents, or about 1%, at $15.23 a troy ounce.

Palladium futures, which hit a record high of $1,434.50 last week, shed 0.2% to $1,332.20.

Elsewhere, March copper dropped 1.2% to $2.686 a pound.

Investimng.com