Gold was the biggest beneficiary of China’s lifting of tariffs on $US75 billion of US exports and Donald Trump’s tirades on Friday against China and Fed chair, Jerome Powell.
Gold futures were at their highest levels on Friday in New York since early 2013.
Friday saw Comex gold and silver futures rally sharply after China announced a round of retaliatory tariffs against US products, prompting the jump for the week and the 4th week in a row.
After China announced new levies on US products earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that 25% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese products would rise to 30% starting October 1.
His escalation on Friday came took late to impact gold trading. After China announced new levies on US products earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that the tariffs on the remaining $US300 billion in imports will be levied at 15% instead of 10% on next Sunday, September 1.
Silver also rose, but US copper futures fell and will continue to sell off today, while gold looks like notching up more gains.
That will have a positive impact on the prices of local gold miners such as Newcrest, Northern Star, St Barbara and OZ Minerals (which releases its interim results this week).
December gold climbed by $US29.10, or 1.9%, to settle at $US1,537.60 an ounce for a rise of 0.9% for the week.
That settlement price was the highest since April 2013.
China news also drove benchmark bond rates, which compete with gold for haven demand, helping to support bullion buying.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note was at 1.5115%, down 9.1 basis points at one stage before the yield rose to end at 1.53%. down around 7 points.
But that was before Trump’s latest tariff announcement and that will see a further stampede of nervy investors into the safety of bonds around the world.
Among other metals, Comex September silver rose 3.73 cents, or 2.2%, to $US17.413 an ounce, up around 1.7% from a week ago.
Comex September copper lost 2.75 cents, or 1.1%, to $US2.53 a pound, down 2.5% for the week.
October platinum shed $US6.60, or 0.8%, to $US855.30 an ounce, for a weekly rise of 0.5%, while September palladium settled at $US1,454.30 an ounce, down $US30.90, or 2.1% in Friday dealings, but still up about 0.9% from a week ago.
