Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower in European trading on Thursday, nursing overnight losses amid fading demand for safe-haven assets, despite jitters ahead of the French presidential election and ongoing geopolitical tensions over North Korea.
Comex gold futures shed $2.90, or around 0.2%, to $1,280.50 a troy ounce by 2:45AM ET (06:45GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was slightly lower at $1,279.30.
The yellow metal logging its first loss in six sessions on Wednesday after hitting a one-week low of $1,275.40, as the U.S. dollar recovered from recent losses.
It has seen choppy trade since failing to clear the closely-watched $1,300 mark in recent sessions.
Also on the Comex, silver futures dipped 1.2 cents, or about 0.1% to $18.15 a troy ounce, after losing 11.0 cents in the prior session.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, was at 99.65 in London morning trade, keeping distance from Tuesday's low of 99.36, which was its deepest trough since March 28.
Meanwhile, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at around at 2.205%, after falling to a low of 2.165% Tuesday, the lowest since November 10.
Gold has been well-supported in recent sessions as market players sought shelter in safe-haven assets ahead of the upcoming French presidential election on Sunday, which remains too close to call, and amid heightened geopolitical tension between the U.S. and North Korea.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum inched up 0.2% to $970.70, while palladium tacked on 0.3% to $778.05 an ounce.
May copper futures dipped 0.2 cents to $2.533 a pound, not far from a three-month low of $2.515 logged earlier in the week, on concern over a slowdown in demand from China.