Investing.com - Gold prices inched up on Tuesday as mounting fears over the prospect of a trade war between the U.S. and China stoked demand for the precious metal.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.1% at $1,229.3 a troy ounce by 12:30 AM ET (04:30 GMT).
Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported on Monday that the United States is considering imposing tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports by early December if talks next month between presidents Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping do not go well.
The new round of tariffs targets the rest of the imports from China, about $257 billion worth, according to Bloomberg.
The U.S. stock market closed lower following the report, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 200 points, erasing a 350-point gain earlier in the session; the S&P 500 fell 0.6%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was up 0.3% to 96.44. The greenback, widely considered as a safe-haven asset these days, was supported by safe-haven demand amid rising trade tensions between China and the U.S.
Asian equities were little impacted by the trade news, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up almost 2% while China’s Shanghai Composite, South Korea’s KOSPI and Australia’s ASX 200 all gained around 1%.