Investing.com - Gold prices hovered near a 17-month low on Monday amid lingering worries over the U.S.-China trade conflict, while a stronger U.S. dollar also put pressure on the yellow metal.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $0.9, or 0.07%, to $1,224.4 a troy ounce by 1:50AM ET (05:50 GMT).
Chinese authorities announced on Friday that it would impose tariffs, ranging from 5% to 35%, on $60 billion in U.S. goods that include many agriculture-related goods if the U.S. proceeded with placing more tariffs on Chinese imports.
The warnings came after U.S. President Donald Trump urged U.S. Trade Representative to consider raising the proposed tariffs on Chinese goods to 25% from the initial 10% earlier this month.
Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said in an interview with Bloomberg over the weekend that Trump would keep adding pressure to China.
“We’ve said many times: no tariffs, no tariff barriers, no subsidies. We want to see trade reforms. China is not delivering, OK?,” Kudlow said on Friday. “Their economy’s weak, their currency is weak, people are leaving the country. Don’t underestimate President Trump’s determination to follow through.”
Gold prices gave up its earlier gains as the dollar recovered after slipping on Friday after data showed U.S. job growth slowed in July.
The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.06% to 95.09 on Monday following the development.
"Gold is still very much being influenced by how the dollar is moving. The uptick in gold prices is from the market pricing in how the U.S-China trade war issues actually play out," OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan said.