Gold prices firm with U.S.-China trade tensions in focus
Gold prices were steady on Friday, remaining on track for a weekly gain as investors shy away from riskier assets on worries that a rift over trade between the United States and China could deepen if talks between the two fail to reach a deal.
Spot gold was unchanged at $1,283.41 per ounce at 0311 GMT and is up about 0.4% for the week.
U.S. gold futures were also steady at $1,284.30 an ounce.
Top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators concluded the first of two days of talks on Thursday to rescue a trade deal that is close to collapsing as Washington prepares to go ahead with plans to hike tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods imported from China.
Before they get back around the table on Friday, the United States will have increased duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods, to 25% from 10%. The duties apply to cargoes leaving China after 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) Friday.
"There is still some level of uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-China trade deal, and when gold tends to go down there seems to be opportunistic buying," said John Sharma, economist at National Australian Bank.
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