Gold steadies near record high as greenback rebounds on U.S.-China tensions

Gold prices steadied new record high as the dollar regained ground following another escalation in U.S.-China tensions; however, worsening coronavirus pandemic and its mounting economic toll put the bullion on track for its longest weekly winning streak in nearly a decade.

Spot gold was trading 0.2 percent down at $2,058.77 per ounce by 0721 GMT, having touched an all-time high of $2,075.28 earlier in the session. The metal has added 4.7 percent so far this week, its ninth straight weekly gain. U.S. gold futures eased 0.1 percent to $2,057.00.

U.S. President Donald Trump took steps to ban transactions with the Chinese owners of two popular mobile apps. On Thursday, Trump issued an executive order banning transactions with ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the video-sharing app TikTok, stating the app is a threat to national security and added that he will ban transactions with Chinese firm Tencent Holdings Ltd, which owns the WeChat messaging app.

U.S. Republicans and Democrats have so far failed to reach an agreement on the cost of fiscal stimulus measures. The Treasury Secretary and White House Chief of Staff began another round of negotiations with the top Democratic leaders in Congress. Talks have been dragging over differences on issues including the size of a government benefit for tens of millions of unemployed workers.

Investors await U.S. nonfarm payroll and unemployment data following mixed jobless claims data. Report released on Thursday showed fewer Americans sought jobless benefits last week, but a staggering 31.3 million people were receiving unemployment checks in mid-July.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 1.58 million jobs in July, compared to 4.8 million in the previous month, while the unemployment rate is expected to have declined to 10.5 percent from 11.1 percent in June.

Surging coronavirus cases in the United States have dampened hopes for a nascent economic recovery, putting the greenback for its seventh consecutive weekly decline.

The greenback against a basket of currencies traded 0.3 percent up at 92.98, having touched a low of 92.52 on Thursday, its lowest since May 2018. The U.S. Treasury yields edged lower, with the benchmark 10-year note yield trading at 0.520 percent.