Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, has been meeting with top Republicans on Capitol Hill. Those meeting with the foreign secretary included House speaker Paul Ryan and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. BBC reports sources as saying the talks in Washington saw "seriously positive" discussions on the prospects for a future US-UK trade deal.
A US-UK trade deal would be a priority, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker said after meeting Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Corker said Johnson knows "full well" that "there is no way the United Kingdom is going to take a back seat".
Paul Ryan, speaker of the US House of Representatives said America should do a free trade deal with Britain following Donald Trump’s US election victory. He thinks such an agreement would show the UK that America remains an “indispensable ally”. However, it is to note that no deal can be signed until Britain has left the European Union.
Unlike Barack Obama, who publicly opposed Brexit and said the UK would be at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal, Trump welcomed the vote to leave the EU. Trump, while a candidate for the U.S. presidency, hailed Brexit as a "great thing" during his visit to Scotland the day after the vote.
"We are America’s principal partner in working for global security and, of course, we are great campaigners for free trade," Johnson was quoted as saying by the Guardian newspaper.
"We hear that we are first in line to do a great free trade deal with the United States. So, it's going to be a very exciting year for both our countries," Johnson said.
