Gold rose to 10-month high

Gold futures rallied by nearly 2% on Tuesday to log their highest finish since April, as the stock market assumed a defensive stance on the back of the latest round of talks in the U.S.-China trade spat. Financial markets await the latest trade developments, as discussions resumed Tuesday in Washington. A 90-day tariff truce between the parties is set to end at the start of March. President Trump on Sunday tweeted about the trade talks, saying “Big progress being made on soooo many different fronts!”

The contract settled at a two-week high of $1,322.10 Friday, enough to flip the contract to positive for last week. U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday. Gold, typically bought as a haven asset in times of political uncertainty, has seen largely subdued daily moves. Still, Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the end of last week to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border prompted 16 states filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging the declaration. That may be offering some haven support for gold, said analysts at Zaner Precious Metals.

For now, Wright said weakness in the U.S. dollar has helped to support gold. Getting prices for the metal past $1,350 “might be a challenge in the short term but, clearly, momentum is heading towards that level,” he said. The dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.03% was down 0.5% at 96.471. Weakness in the buck can make purchasing dollar-priced assets comparatively less expensive for those using other monetary units.

Gold rallies to a 10-month high as trade-talk continuation captures market attention, MarketWatch. Feb 20