On Tuesday, gold futures become cheaper, as sentiment improved amid the global stock market rally, despite the disappointing trade data in China increasing volatility in Asian markets.
During European morning trade, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery fell $ 2.40, or 0.21%, to $ 1119.00 per troy ounce. On Monday, US markets were closed because of Labor Day.
The data released earlier showed that China's trade surplus widened to $ 60.20 billion last month from $ 43.0 billion in July, compared with the expected surplus of $ 48.20 billion.
China's exports shrank by 5.5% in annual terms, better than the expected decline of 6.0%, while imports fell 13.8%, significantly worse than the expected decline of 8.2%.
Despite the weak data, the Shanghai Composite Index soared on Tuesday more than 4.5% in the last hour of trading, returning session losses and closed trading with an increase by 3%.
Optimistic mood spread also to European markets, where the German DAX, the French CAC 40 and the FTSE 100 in London rose by almost 2%.
In the US, Wall Street indicates a rapid rise at the opening: Dow futures rose 250 points.
Gold prices are also under pressure of the continuing uncertainty as to whether there will be a rate hike at the next meeting of the Federal Reserve, which will be held on September 16-17.
Friday's report on US non-farm payrolls failed to clarify the likelihood of the raising rates by Fed in the near future. The time of rate hike is a constant topic of discussions in recent months.
On July 24, gold dropped to a minimum of five and a half years at $ 1072.30 amid speculation that in September the Fed intends to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.
Expectations of interest increase on loans have a negative impact on the precious metal because it cannot compete with the profitable assets in a period of growing rate.
During early London trade, on Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for December delivery rose 6.6 cents, or 2.87%, to $ 2.378 per pound.
Copper futures are seeing an increase thanks to improved sentiment after the rapid growth in the stock markets in China.
Imports of copper in China in August amounted to 350.000 tons, almost similar to the previous figure, showing that demand for industrial metals remains despite the recent turmoil in the market.
The Asian country is the world's largest consumer of copper, accounting last year for almost 40% of world consumption.