Gold futures fell in Asian trade off June 15 highs for the third session out of four, even as the dollar index retreated as well, ahead of US data later today and amid ongoing US-China trade talks. 

As of 04:32 GMT, gold futures due in February fell 0.20% to $1,283.30 an ounce off seven-month highs, while the dollar index slipped 0.11% to 95.80. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is scheduled to speak about the economy and monetary policy at the Discover Financial Services Company Meeting, in Illinois. 

The Federal Open Market Committee will also release its last meeting minutes, at which policymakers voted to increase interest rates by the fourth time this year by 25 basis points as expected by market. 

US President Donald Trump continued his criticism of the Federal Reserve's approach to tightening monetary policy despite what he consider strong data, while wishing for near-zero rates similar to the ones enjoyed by the last administration. 

In his speech last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that 2018 was a good year for the US economy, with data still affirming upbeat economic momentum, with labor data proving strong today. 

Powell believes inflation is still stable, with the Federal Open Market Committee monitoring performance while ready to change policy according to changes in the economy. 

Powell said the FOMC won't hesitate to change the plans to trim the program of selling government bonds and mortgage-backed securities if needed. 

Australian dollar rose from March 2009 lows for the third session out of four against its US counterpart, following earlier data from Australian and ahead of US data. 

As of 03:52 GMT, AUD/USD rose 0.31% to 0.7162, with an intraday low at 0.7135, and the highest since December 19. 

An Australian index tracking the services sector receded to 52.1 from 55.1, while building permits fell 9.1% in November, sharpening a 1.5% drop in October. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is scheduled to speak about the economy and monetary policy at the Discover Financial Services Company Meeting, in Illinois. 

The Federal Open Market Committee will also release its last meeting minutes, at which policymakers voted to increase interest rates by the fourth time this year by 25 basis points as expected by market. 

Corn futures fell in American trade off December 18 highs as the dollar index climbed from October 22 lows, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter and amid ongoing US-China trade talks in Beijing. 

As of 06:45 GMT, corn futures due in March fell 0.59% to $3.800 away from three-week highs, while the dollar index rose 0.23% to 95.89 off three-month lows. 

Earlier US data showed an index tracking job opportunities fell to 6.89 million from 7.13 million in October, missing estimates of 7.07 million, while another tracking consumer crediting fell to $17.3 billion from $25.4 billion in October. 

Yesterday in Beijing, talks on the ministerial level between US and Chinese officials commenced on hopes of solving the trade dispute raging between the world's two largest economy. 

Last week,US trade secretary Wilbur Ross recently noted how the US and China could reach a good settlement when it comes to direct trade, but the structure of trade issues and their execution may prove a more difficult process, noting how China is awakening to its economic dependence on US trade. 

Yesterday, Wilbur Ross added that Beijing and Washington are hoping for an agreement that could be lived with. 

The US Department of Agriculture reported inspections of 501.5 thousand tonnes of corn product destined for export in the week ending January 3, compared to 952.9 thousand in the previous week, with total inspected product amounting to 18.5 million tonnes from 11.4 million in the same period of 2018. 

Ripple tilted lower on Tuesday amid warnings from an ECB member from the supposed imminent collapse of cryptocurrencies, with ripple erasing yearly gains. 

As of 06:18 GMT, ripple fell 0.56% to $0.37140, with an intraday low at $0.36656, and a high at $0.38250, with Ripple's market value receding to $14.80 billion. 

Bloomberg reported that an ECB member warned that the crypto bubble is starting to already burst. 

Ardo Hansson, governor of Estonia's central bank warned that cryptocurrency are heading to an end, with the world currently witenssing "the collapse" according to him. 

Ripple lost is place last week as the second most valuable cryptocurrency in market value to ethereum yet again amid issues facing the instant payment services RippleNet. 

The Path of Ripple

It's worth mentioning that Ripple was first launched on March 7, 2015, to start trading at $0.015, with the virtual currency losing nearly two thirds of its value by early 2016 to $0.0059, before rising 5% during 2016 to $0.0063, and then skyrocketing 28,000% to $1.748 by the end of 2017, before marking unprecedented highs in January at $3.30, then losing up to 90% of value on a violent selloff wave that stormed crypto assets this year. 

Ripple then reversed nearly 80% higher in only a few days in September on positive news for the cryptocurrency and its standing between major financial institutions.