Gold gains on simmering U.S.-China spat

Gold prices rose on Monday as fears of a protracted U.S.-China trade war hurt risk sentiment, while poor economic data from the United States bolstered bets of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut.

Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,286.89 per ounce as of 0129 GMT, rising for a third session in a row.

U.S. gold futures also gained 0.2%, to $1,285.50 an ounce.

"Gold has really reversed earlier losses as risk appetite in the market remains rather shaky," said Benjamin Lu, an analyst with Singapore-based Phillip Futures.

"U.S. sanctions on Huawei and even the rest of the Chinese technology firms have really aggravated trade tensions."

China on Friday denounced U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for fabricating rumours after he said the chief executive of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was lying about his company's ties to the Beijing government.

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