Early on Friday, gold prices have risen slightly after sliding 0.1% lower in the previous session, following the release of weak Chinese GDP data earlier in the morning. At the time of writing, GOLD is trading at a little above $1,553.

Overall, this week has been a bearish one for the precious metal as gold prices are set to post a 0.7% decline so far this week. The rising optimism around the phase one trade deal between the US and China and receding geopolitical tensions in the Middle East contributed to the weakness in gold prices over the past few days.

Gold fell lower on Thursday after retail sales rose for a third consecutive month in the US during December even as jobless claims declined for a fifth consecutive week. In more optimistic news from the US, the Philly Fed manufacturing index also posted a strong rebound, revealing manufacturing activity soaring to the highest level seen in eight months during January.

Strong economic data releases from the US supported the greenback which shares a negative correlation with gold. However, early on Friday, gold prices made slight gains after China’s GDP came in at 6.0%, the weakest in 29 years.