Gold edges higher on US trade jitters

LONDON, Mar 06 (Reuters): Gold edged higher on Tuesday as uncertainty over the prospect of a trade war breaking out over proposed US sanctions on steel and aluminium imports boosted interest in the metal as a safe store of value, and kept the dollar under pressure.

The metal remained hemmed into a narrow range, however, as a continued recovery in stock markets detracted some investment interest from bullion.

Spot gold was up 0.4 per cent at $1,324.96 an ounce at 1045 GMT, while US gold futures for April delivery were 0.5 per cent higher at $1,326.30 an ounce.

Stock markets clawed back lost ground as US President Donald Trump faced pressure from political allies to pull back from the tariffs he proposed last week, a move that sparked a drop in equities and the dollar.

A spokesman for US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said last week that Ryan hoped Trump would consider the "unintended consequences" of tariffs, while White House economic adviser Gary Cohn was reported to have arranged a meeting with executives of US companies that use the metals.

"The uncertainty created by Trump is once again coming in to support gold," Saxo Bank's head of commodity research Ole Hansen said.