Gold Struggles for Direction as Dollar Slumps

Investing.com – Gold prices struggled for direction on Friday and remained at six-month lows as the dollar fell and trade tensions lingered.

Comex for August delivery were down 0.02% to $1,270.30 a troy ounce as of 4:41 AM ET (8:41 GMT).

Tensions between the U.S. and its allies continue, as India joined China and the European Union in retaliation against steel and aluminum tariffs. As the biggest buyer of almonds, India raised its tariff on U.S. almonds by 20%. Meanwhile the European Union imposed tariffs on about $3.4 billion of U.S. imports on Friday, including motorcycles, orange juice and cranberry sauce. The expected tariffs have added to tensions as investors fear an outright global trade war between the U.S.and other major countries.

Traders often turn to gold in times of political uncertainty, as the precious metal is often considered a safe haven from the impact of geopolitics but gold has struggled amid the latest political risks due to the strength in the greenback.

Meanwhile the U.S. dollar was lower. Gold normally rises as the dollar falls, as the precious metal is denominated in the U.S. currency and is sensitive to moves in the dollar but was held back despite a fall in greenback.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was at 94.24, falling 0.33%.

Bullion becomes more expensive for holders of other currencies when the dollar rises and cheaper when it falls.

Elsewhere on the Comex, were up 0.51% to $16.410 a troy ounce. Among other precious metals, platinum rose 0.20% to $864.90 while palladium increased 0.60% to $951.30 an ounce. futures gained 0.58% to $3.039 a pound.

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