Gold rebounds from three-week trough, dollar inches down

Gold futures tilted higher in Asian trade off January 3 lows while the dollar index backed off December 26 highs, after China's central bank maintained rates on five-year loans unchanged.  

As of 04:19 GMT, gold futures due in February rose 0.12% to $1,559.10 an ounce, while the dollar index inched down 0.03% to 97.61. 

Recent Chinese data showed GDP grew 1.5% q/q in the fourth quarter, besting estimates of 1.4%, while growing 6% y/y. 

Retail sales rose 8%, same as before, while industrial production rose 6.9% y/y, up from 6.2%. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message to US President Donald Trump after the signing of the first stage of the trade deal, expressing his hopes for solving disputes through negotiations while asserting both sides have to commit to the deal to achieve further cooperation. 

The first stage of the trade deal would have China increase purchases of US commodities by $200 billion, including $52.4 of energy products, $77.7 billion for manufacturing,  $37.9 billion for services, and $32 billion for agriculture products. 

The US will abolish tariffs on some Chinese tech products while cutting tariffs on other products valued at $120 billion to 7.5%.