Gold trades flat ahead of the European open

LONDON (July 11)  Gold is trading pretty much flat ahead of the European open this morning. Silver is looking more subdued and is nearly half a percent in the red. In the rest of the commodities complex, both copper (-2.11%) and spot WTI (-1.64%) have moved lower overnight.

Equities were mostly lower overnight but the Nikkei 225 closed 1.11% higher. The ASX (-1.14%) and Shanghai Composite (-1.21%) both struggled. Futures markets are indicating negative cash open for the indices in Europe. 

In FX markets, the dollar index climbed half a percent overnight. AUD and JPY were the biggest casualties. In the crypto space, BTC/USD is trading 2.10% lower at $20,418.

News from the weekend:

Shanghai COVID-19 cases continued to climb over the weekend.

U.S. Blinken expressed concern about China's support for Russia invading Ukraine.

China Evergrande bondholders have rejected the payment delay proposal.

Fire at Medford (U.S. Oklahoma) natural gas plant after an (unconfirmed) explosion.

U.S.' Raimondo: "I don't see any reason to think that we will have a serious recession,".

Chinese State (financial) media says June CPI won't stand in the way of more stimulus.

Norway CPI YoY (Jun) Act: 6.3% Prev: 5.7% Prev: 5.9%

China June CPI 0.0% m/m vs -0.1% expected.

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include U.S. employment trends, Italian retail sales, Riksbank minutes, EZ finance ministers meeting, and comments from Fed's Williams. 

KITCO