Gold rises on trade uncertainty, palladium falls to four-month low
By Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Thursday, supported by a weaker dollar and as investors sought safe-haven assets after U.S. President Donald Trump warned a trade deal with China was in danger, sending global stocks lower.
Concerns about the dispute's potential impact on economic growth has also weighed on palladium prices, which tumbled to their lowest in four months.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,284.11 per ounce as of 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT), having climbed to its highest since April 15 at $1,291.39 on Wednesday.
U.S. gold futures were also 0.3 percent higher, at $1,285.10 an ounce.
"Gold remains fairly stable on safe-haven appeal due to weakness across the board in global equities on the back of concerns regarding trade," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
Trade talks in the next several days will keep the uncertainty high, he added.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office has said that tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would increase to 25 percent from 10 percent at 12:01 a.m. (0401) GMT on Friday, right in the middle of two days of meetings between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Trump's top trade officials in Washington.
The Japanese yen surged to a three-month high against the dollar, while world stocks fell for a fourth day running on Thursday.
Gold, along with the Japanese yen and U.S. treasuries, is seen as a relatively safe investment in times of political and financial crisis.
While gold has drawn support from risk-averse markets, prices have not embarked on a significant uptrend.
"There was a strong level of technical resistance at $1,290 - $1,292, it is a level we have fallen back from and we are consolidating below," Meger said.
Gold's precious metal peers were less resilient, taking their cues from the industrial side on concerns about demand amid the trade spat, Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities in Toronto, said.
Weakening auto sales in China and abroad were keeping autocatalyst palladium under pressure, Melek said.
Palladium fell more than 3 percent to $1,263.85 per ounce, the lowest level since Jan. 4.
Silver was down 0.5 percent at $14.76 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.7 percent to $850.43 per ounce. Both metals hit one-week lows earlier in the session.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel and Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Thomas)
