By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com – Gold rallied for a third straight day on Tuesday to more than two-week highs as more skittish investors sought safe haven after President Donald Trump’s renewed attack on China that signaled little hope for a trade deal.
Trump’s lashing out at Iran, combined with oil-related geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, also drove futures and spot prices of gold toward the $1,550-per-ounce territory.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled up $8.70, or 0.6%, at $1,540.20 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The session high was $1,543.25, a peak since Sept. 5.
Spot gold, reflective of trades in bullion, was up $9.99, or 0.7%, at $1,532.14 by 2:47 PM ET (18:47 GMT). It earlier hit a two-week high of $1,535.74.
Gold prices have risen almost 2% since the start of this week, heading for their best week since early August. Just a week ago, some analysts had dulled on the shiny metal, saying its prospects weren’t so promising as the U.S. dollar remained strong after another modest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Gold is an alternative play to the dollar.
Trump struck a combative tone against China in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, making a quick trade deal between the giants seem like a distant promise.
“Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale,” Trump said.
His comments also drove equity markets lower, pushing more investors toward the safe haven. The S&P 500 was down 0.9% at 3:25 p.m. ET (19:25 GMT)
On the oil front, Trump railed out against Iran’s “blood lust” and said sanctions on its oil will be tightened unless it changed its ways. But West Texas intermediate crude fell $1.35 to $57.29.
“As long as Iran’s menacing behavior continues, sanctions will not be lifted,” said the president, who reinstated a U.S. oil embargo on Iran last November after pulling out of the 2016 nuclear pact earlier in the year. “They will be tightened.”