Gold steadies near one-month peak as trade escalation lifts safe-haven demand

Gold prices held steady near one-month highs on Tuesday as an escalation in Sino-U.S. trade war sent investors looking for safe-haven assets.

Spot gold was mostly steady at $1,298.48 as of 0255 GMT, after hitting $1,303.26, its highest since April 11.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.2% at $1,299.20.

Asian shares extended losses on Tuesday, following sharp falls on the Wall Street overnight, the yen strengthened and U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower after Beijing on Monday announced retaliatory tariff-hike to counter Washington.

"Gold is moving because people are looking to find a safe harbour in the storm while they wait for the dust to settle," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific at OANDA.

"Prices could further rise to $1,310-$1,312 if stock markets end lower. But, any sudden breakthroughs in the trade stand-off possibly could see investors stampeding for the exit as fast as they arrived."

On Monday, the metal rose 1.1% to mark its biggest one-day percentage rise since February 19. Prices broke through multiple technical resistances, which had acted as a barrier for bullion despite the slump in global markets over the past week.

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