Investing.com - Gold prices turned higher on Friday after China announced retaliatory tariffs oU.S., increasing demand for the safe-haven precious metal ahead of a widely anticipated speech from Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell.
Spot gold gained $6.54, or 0.4%, to $1,504.66 a troy ounce by 9:24 AM ET (13:24 GMT), while gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose $5.85, or 0.4%, to $1,514.35.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said it will impose additional tariffs on a total of $75 billion of U.S. goods in response to the latest ones planned by U.S. President Donald Trump on $300 billion of Chinese goods.
China said that some of those countermeasures will start on Sept. 1 while others will take effect on Dec. 15, mirroring a recent delay announced by Trump.
The news broke ahead of Powell’s speech scheduled for 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
Markets will look to see if the Fed chief provides hints on whether the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates for a second time this year in an attempt to boost the world's largest economy.
Elsewhere, World Gold Council analyst Adam Perlaky noted that investor demand for gold-backed ETFs continued at a rapid pace last week. Even in Asia, where holdings of gold ETFs had fallen nearly 20% at one stage earlier this year, assets under management are now up on Dec. 31, having risen 10% in August alone.
In other metals trading, silver futures gained 0.5% to $17.128 a troy ounce by 9:32 AM ET (13:32 GMT).
Palladium futures fell 1.7% to $1,459.95 an ounce, while sister metal platinum declined 0.6% to $857.15.
In base metals, copper dropped 0.5% to $2.546 a pound.