Investing.com - Gold prices inched up while the dollar also gained on Monday as China cancelled its planned trade talks with the U.S.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported on the weekend that Beijing is unlikely to resume talks with Washington until after November’s mid-term elections.
A proposed visit to Washington by vice premier Liu He originally scheduled for this week is also cancelled, according to the WSJ.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.02% to $1,201.50 a troy ounce by 1:20AM ET (05:20 GMT).
Meanwhile, analysts from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC) said the precious metal is likely to surge the next year as trade war concerns and worries over widening U.S. budget deficit began to damage the country’s economy.
Gold prices could hit $1,350 an ounce in 2019, Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities and derivatives research, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg last week.
“We’re still pretty constructive longer term on gold,” because of worries over the future of the U.S. economy even though it’s performing relatively well right now, said Blanch. “In the short run, the effects of strong dollar, higher rates dominate. But in the long run, a huge U.S. government budget deficit is pretty positive for gold,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump hinted earlier that the trade war won’t end any time soon, and said in an interview with Fox News that it’s time to “take a stand on China.”
“Eventually the trade wars are going to come back to bite the U.S.,” said Blanch. “It could take longer, it could take shorter, eventually it’s going to happen, but maybe the Fed acknowledges it sooner, which is what people are going to be looking for in terms of getting more bullish on gold. We know that trade wars are not good for the economy.”