Metals Prices Drop as Trump Looks Close to Pulling Tariff Trigger on China

Investing.com – Copper prices were set to post a second-straight week of losses Friday, pressured by a stronger dollar and signs the U.S.-China trade war is set to intensify.

fell 0.70% to $2.62, marking a sour end to the week, as traders worried the next chapter in the U.S.-China trade war could be the most destructive yet.

U.S. President Donald Trump signalled a willingness to slap additional tariffs on goods from China “very soon.” Trump warned that he could impose levies on $267 billion worth of imported goods from China. This would add to the $200 billion in goods already targeted, according to Bloomberg and Reuters.

The prospect of further friction between China and the U.S. drew little demand for safe-haven gold as a stronger dollar continued to dictate direction for the yellow metal.

for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $3.30, or 0.27%, to $1,201.00 troy ounce.

The dollar surged on upbeat U.S. labor market data showing better-than-expected jobs and wage growth, indicating that the U.S. economy would be able to deal with a faster pace of Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, above , while the unemployment rate , the Labor Department said on Friday.

The , which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was rose 0.39% to 95.36.

In a rising interest rate environment, investor appetite for gold weakens as the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal increases relative to other interest-bearing assets such as bonds.

The reverberations of a stronger dollar and rising trade tensions echoed through the wider metals as zinc and nickel fell sharply, while aluminum bucked the trend lower.

rose 1.02% to 2,060.25, lost 1.06% to 12,332.50 and dropped 1.47% to 2,403.75.

tacked on 0.03% to $14.19 a troy ounce, while slipped 1.25% to $781.00.

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