Gold climbs 2pc amid tariff war

Gold prices gained more than 2 per cent on Wednesday, supported by a decline in the dollar and safe-haven inflows amid escalating US-China trade tensions after Beijing announced more levies on US goods, reports Reuters.

Spot gold was up 2.2 per cent at $3,048.19 an ounce, as of 09:01 a.m. ET (1301 GMT). US gold futures rose 2.5 per cent to $3,065.40.

"Ultimately gold continues to be seen as a hedge against instability here. We got a situation where tariffs are becoming a big problem, and you have inflationary expectations going higher, and that's manifested by higher yields," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

"As this trade situation continues to be a problem, I think over time people may be betting that the US dollar becomes less prevalent in global trade," Melek added.

Elsewhere, silver gained 1.4 per cent to $30.26 an ounce, and platinum slipped 0.6 per cent to $915.59.