Gold prices buoyed as US-China trade tensions mount

Gold prices were steady on Friday, buoyed as investors shied away from riskier assets amid worries that a rift over trade between the United States and China could deepen if talks between the two fail to reach a deal.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was steady at $1,284.65 per ounce at 0142 GMT and is up about 0.4 percent for the week.


US gold futures were unchanged at $1,285.70 an ounce.

Top US and Chinese trade negotiators concluded the first of two days of talks on Thursday to rescue a trade deal that is close to collapsing as Washington prepares to go ahead with plans to hike tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods imported from China. {nL2N22L1EY]

Before they get back around the table on Friday, the United States will have increased duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods, to 25 percent from 10 percent. The duties apply to cargoes leaving China after 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) Friday.

The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc stood tall on Friday, supported by investor concerns in the broader markets over the Sino-US trade tensions.

Asian shares inched up from two-month lows on Friday just hours ahead of the Trump administration's plan to raise tariffs on Chinese imports.

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces seized 241 kilograms of gold from a plane that landed in Khartoum on Thursday in an investigation into possible smuggling.

South Africa's gold output fell 17.7 percent year-on-year in March compared to a contraction of 20.6 percent in February, Statistics South Africa said.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd will review divestment options for its Mponeng mine and other South African assets to focus on higher returns elsewhere, the South African gold miner said on Thursday.

Spot palladium rose 1.8 percent to $1,316.40 an ounce, having fallen as much as 4 percent in the previous session to its lowest since Jan. 4 at $1,263.85.