Gold futures fluctuated lower in a narrow range during the Asian session, to witness its stabilization near the lowest level in four months, amid the rise of the dollar index, stabilizing near the highest in twenty-two months according to the inverse relationship between them on the threshold of economic data expected today, Wednesday, by the Chinese economy, the world's largest consumer of metals, and amid a lack of economic data from the US economy.

As of 03:08 GMT, gold futures (June 15th delivery) fell 0.22% to currently trade at $1,271.50 per ounce, compared to the opening at $1,274.40 an ounce, while the US dollar index rose 0.08% to 97.67, compared to the opening at 97.60.

Investors are now looking for the Chinese economy, the world's second-largest economy and the second-largest industrial nation after the United States to unveil March's leading index reading, this comes hours after the People's Bank of China (CBB) That it may offer to stop the mandatory reserve reductions for the Chinese banks, explaining that the data of the first quarter support doing so and will re-evaluate the economic conditions.

On the other hand, experts at Standard Chartered Bank expect gold prices to rise again to last year's peak of $1,365 an ounce, as prices nearing the peak and falling to its lowest level this year, amid speculation that one of the main assumptions that the price recovery may support the Fed's adherence to the patience policy and the suspension of monetary tightening plans and interest rates.

According to experts, the assumption is based on the Federal Reserve's preparation for a possible recession by 2021, which could support the performance of gold as a safe haven, as they point to a surge in global central bank purchases and recent high demand for gold by China and India, by which supports the price cycle. Accordingly, they expect prices to rise to $1,365 an ounce and that the average price next year would be $1,375 an ounce.

The Australian economy released its reading for the first-quarter consumer price index, which showed stability at zero levels versus 0.5% growth in the previous quarter, worse than expectations of 0.2%. While the core reading of the fourth quarter of last year consumer price index showed a growth by 0.3% compared to the previous quarter's reading and expectations of a growth by 0.4%.

Whilst, the annual reading of the CPI for the first quarter showed that growth slowed to 1.3% from 1.8% in the previous quarter, worse than analysts' forecasts of a slowdown of 1.5%. while the core annual reading of the CPI for the same quarter showed a slower growth by 1.6% versus 1.8% in the fourth quarter, also worse than analysts' forecasts of a slowdown by 1.7%

The Australian dollar fell significantly during the Asian session, to witness its lowest since March 11th against the US dollar following the economic developments and data released by the Australian economy and the lack of economic data on Wednesday by the US economy, the largest economy in the world.

As of 02:02 GMT, AUD/USD fell 0.84% to $0.7042 compared to the opening levels of $0.7102 after a high of $0.7103 and the lowest in 6 weeks at $0.7036.

We have followed the Australian economy's release of inflation data as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed stability at zero, versus 0.5% growth in the fourth quarter of last year, as opposed to expectations of a slowdown of 0.2%. While the core reading of the consumer price index showed a growth slow to 0.3% from the previous quarter's reading and expectations at 0.4%.

In the same context, the annual reading of the consumer price index showed that growth slowed to 1.3% from 1.8% in the fourth quarter, worse than analysts' forecasts of a slowdown of 1.5%. The core annual reading of the consumer price index showed growth slowing to 1.6% versus 1.8% in the fourth quarter, also worse than analysts' forecasts of a 1.7% slowdown in growth, boosting the chances of further cuts in Australian interest rates.

Asian stocks opened on mixed performance but mostly positive, to join its American counterpart in the week's third session, with the Japanese, Chinese, Australian and New Zealand stocks rising, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and South Korea's Kospi  falling today, Wednesday. This comes amid the release of the first quarter earnings reports of major international companies and banks.

We have followed the controversial Chinese Huawei disclosure of its quarterly results for the first quarter, which showed a 39% increase in revenues from the first quarter of 2018, despite the pressure of the US government on the Chinese company, which invests heavily in the fifth generation networks Which offers speeds up to ten times the current 4G speed.

We would like to point out that many scientists are aganist the new network technology on claims that it have harmful health effects to send data over the 400 MHz frequancies . It is worth noting that, in conjunction with tests of the fifth generation networks in the Netherlands recently, birds fell dead from the sky at the time, while the validity of these scientists' claims aren't yet confirmed in the context of an extensive debate over technology, especially with no testing of its effects on human health prior to publication.

In addition, we have followed the Australian economy's release of inflation data as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed stability at zero, versus 0.5% growth in the fourth quarter of last year, as opposed to expectations of a slowdown of 0.2%. While the core reading of the consumer price index showed a growth slow to 0.3% from the previous quarter's reading and expectations at 0.4%.

In the same context, the annual reading of the consumer price index showed that growth slowed to 1.3% from 1.8% in the fourth quarter, worse than analysts' forecasts of a slowdown of 1.5%. The core annual reading of the consumer price index showed growth slowing to 1.6% versus 1.8% in the fourth quarter, also worse than analysts' forecasts of a 1.7% slowdown in growth, boosting the chances of further cuts in Australian interest rates.

On the contrary, The markets are looking forward to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meeting with EU leaders on Thursday before heading to Washington for a summit with US President Donald Trump, in which they're expected to discuss a trade deal between the two countries. in addition to an extension of the waiver on U.S. sanctions on Iran and Iran's oil importers.

White House Press Secretary and Spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, said on Tuesday that the United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, and the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, will travel to Beijing by the end of this month for another round of trade talks and will meet Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, Liu He, who will head a Chinese delegation that will visit Washington for further discussions and trade talks on May 8.

Japanese stocks witnessed a rise during today's trading session, with the broader Topix index rising by 0.12% to gain (1.92 point) up to 1,624.89, while Nikkei 225 index also rose by 0.30% (65.71 points) up to 22,325.45.

As for the Chinese stock indices, CSI 300 rose 0.36% to gain 14.62 points and reach 4,033.63, the Shanghai Composite Index also rose 0.16% (4.97 points) to reach 3,203.56.

As for Hong Kong's Hang Sang rose 0.50% (148.95 points) to 30,112.19. While South Korea's Kospi Index fell 0.16% (3.55 points) to 2,216.96.

To New Zealand's NZX 50, which rose 0.63% (62.92 points) to 10,067.76. While Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index also rose 1.09% to gain 68.88 points and reached the level of 6,388.30.