Investing.com – Gold prices rose modestly as the U.S. dollar remained flat against its rivals and rising U.S.-China trade tensions fuelled investor appetite for safe-haven gold.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $1.50 or 0.12%, to $1,280.20 a troy ounce.
Following its biggest one-day slump since November 2016, gold prices made a timid start to the week as traders weighed the prospect of further dollar upside against rising trade-war tensions between the U.S. and China.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.06% to 94.50.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – A rise in the dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus, reduces demand for the precious metal.
Some market participants have also blamed the recent slump in gold prices on a breach of a key technical level around $1,307 last week, citing a further breach of price levels near the $1,270 zone would trigger a wave of selling.
Yet investor demand for the yellow metal appears to have returned as data last week showed traders resumed their bullish bets on safe-haven gold.
CFTC COT data data last week showed speculative net long positions on gold increased to 64,572 from 58,066 last week.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.06% to $16.47 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 0.44% at $883.90 an ounce.
Copper lost 0.94% to $3.12.