Investing.com – Gold prices edged up on Monday as the dollar weakened, while trade concerns between the U.S. and China also supported the bullion.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.2% to $1,273.60 a troy ounce by 11:30PM ET (03:30 GMT).
The U.S. is considering to declare China’s investment in U.S. technologies companies a threat to economic and national security, according to reports on Monday that cited eight people familiar with the plans.
The reports further noted U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would suggest administering the law in a report scheduled to be released on June 29.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 20% tariff on all U.S. imports of European Union-assembled cars, escalating trade tensions with Europe.
In response, a senior European Commission official said the EU would respond to any U.S. move to raise tariffs on cars made in the bloc.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell in morning trade and was trading at 94.4960. The USD has been strengthening since April but the looming trade war is starting to create jitters on the market.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – A fall in the dollar makes gold less expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus, increases demand for the precious metal.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.54% to $16.370 a troy ounce, while platinum futures gained 0.35% at $878.10 an ounce.