Investing.com - Copper prices were set to post a second-straight week of losses Friday, pressured by a stronger dollar and signs the U.S.-China trade war is set to intensify.
Copper prices fell 0.70% to $2.62, marking a sour end to the week, as traders worried the next chapter in the U.S.-China trade war could be the most destructive yet.
U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to slap additional tariffs on goods from China "very soon." Trump warned that he could impose levies on $267 billion worth of imported goods from China. This would add to the $200 billion in goods already targeted, according to Bloomberg and Reuters.
The prospect of further friction between China and the U.S. drew little demand for safe-haven gold as a stronger dollar continued to dictate direction for the yellow metal.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $3.30, or 0.27%, to $1,201.00 troy ounce.
The dollar surged on upbeat U.S. labor market data showing better-than-expected jobs and wage growth, indicating that the U.S. economy would be able to deal with a faster pace of Federal Reserve rate hikes.
The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, above forecasts for 191,000 new jobs, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 3.9%, the Labor Department said on Friday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was rose 0.39% to 95.36.
In a rising interest rate environment, investor appetite for gold weakens as the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal increases relative to other interest-bearing assets such as bonds.
The reverberations of a stronger dollar and rising trade tensions echoed through the wider metals as zinc and nickel fell sharply, while aluminum bucked the trend lower.
Aluminium prices rose 1.02% to 2,060.25, nickel futures lost 1.06% to 12,332.50 and zinc prices dropped 1.47% to 2,403.75.
Silver futures tacked on 0.03% to $14.19 a troy ounce, while platinum futures slipped 1.25% to $781.00.