Investing.com - Gold prices headed higher on Wednesday as the dollar held steady with news flow over trade at a standstill.
At 10:37 AM ET (14:37 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $4.60, or 0.38%, to $1,207.50 a troy ounce.
China struck a conciliatory tone on Wednesday, as Premier Li Keqiang told a World Economic Forum conference that such disputes must be resolved through consultation, stating that it was “essential that we uphold the basic principles of multilateralism and free trade”.
On Tuesday, China said it would impose new tariffs on U.S. goods worth $60 billion, effective Sept. 24. Officials also filed a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization, as expected.
The announcement was in response to U.S. tariffs imposed Monday of 10% on $200 billion in Chinese goods, which will go up to 25% at the end of the year. U.S. President Donald Trump previously stated that the U.S. would impose tariffs on another $267 billion of additional imports if China retaliates.
Traders seemed to take the announcements in stride as initial tariff levels were lower than originally thought, sparking hopes that negotiations could stave off further conflict.
With regard to NAFTA, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Wednesday that the administration was ready to move forward on a North American trade deal without Canada. He added that the end of September was the hard deadline for Canada to join in a trade deal with Mexico and the U.S.
Gold prices have been under pressure in recent months, despite intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and its trade partners, as investors turned to the dollar for safety instead of piling into the safe haven precious metal.
In a slow week for major U.S. economic data, investors looked ahead to the next Federal Reserve policy decision to be announced on Sept. 26.
Markets currently expect the Fed to hike rates by a quarter of a point, while fed fund futures price in an additional increase at the end of the year at more than an 80% probability.
Rising U.S. interest rates were also cited as headwind for gold.
In other metals trading, silver futures gained 0.63% at $14.275 a troy ounce by 10:38 AM ET (14:38 GMT).
Palladium futures rose 1.81% to $1,023.00 an ounce, while sister metal platinum traded up 1.03% at $823.30.
In base metals, copper slipped 0.09% to $2.728 a pound.