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Gold futures marked their highest finish in nearly a month on Tuesday, finding haven-related buying interest after President Donald Trump said it might be preferable to hold off on completing a long-awaited U.S.-China trade deal until after the November 2020 presidential election.
Trump’s comments come ahead of a December 15th deadline for the imposition of fresh import tariffs on China.
“Economic uncertainty was sparked following comments from President Trump, which seemed to dash near term hopes of a trade deal with China,” and suggested that “trade negotiations are once again at a serious impasse,” said analysts at Zaner Metals, in a daily note.
Gold for February delivery GCG20, +1.03% on Comex rose $15.20, or 1%, to settle at $1,484.40 an ounce. That was the highest settlement for a most-active contract since Nov. 6, according to FactSet data. March silver SIH20, +1.73% gained 28.2 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $17.248 an ounce.
The yellow metal and other traditional havens, including U.S. Treasurys, saw a surge in buying interest as global equities and the U.S. stock market turned south in the wake of Trump’s remarks.
Trump, speaking at a London news conference where he is attending a NATO meeting, said he had “no deadline” when it comes to concluding the long-running U.S.-China trade talks.
“In some ways, I think it’s better to wait until after the election if you want to know the truth. But I’m not going to say that, I just think that,” Trump said.
“Was Trump bluffing again, in an effort to exert more pressure on China, after the latter retaliated against Trump signing the Hong Kong bill? Investors were having none of it and they sold European stocks sharply again,” said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com.
“Risk-sensitive currency pairs such as the USD/JPY and EUR/JPY,” he said. So “safe-haven gold and silver rose.”
Trump’s willingness to open new fronts in the trade war also—with Argentina, Brazil and France—despite signs of damage to the global economy has unnerved markets.
On Monday tweeted that he was bringing back tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina and the administration has also proposed tariffs of up to 100% on $2.4 billion in French imports.
In other metals trade, January platinum PLF20, +1.40% rose 1.3% to $911.60 an ounce, while March palladium PAH20, +0.13% fell 0.02% to $1,824.40 an ounce.
March copper HGH20, -0.98% lost 1% to $2.623 a pound.
