WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices surged higher on Monday as an escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions prompted investors to shun riskier assets and seek the safe haven yellow metal.
Trade worries rose after the U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 10% tariff on additional Chinese imports worth $300 billion.
China has retaliated by saying it would take adequate countermeasures to protect the interests of the country and its people.
The mounting tensions between the world's two largest economies sent the Yuan crashing to its lowest level in more than a decade and triggered hectic buying in safe haven assets such as gold, bonds and the Yen.
The Dollar Index, which declined to 97.42, was last seen hovering around 97.50, down nearly 0.6% from previous close.
Gold futures for December ended up $19.00, or about 1.3%, at $1,476.50 an ounce, the highest settlement since early May 2013.
Silver futures for September ended up $0.123, at $16.393 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $2.5440 per pound, down $0.0275 from previous close.
In addition to trade worries and the yuan's plunged to an over one decade low, data showing euro are investor confidence to have deteriorated sharply in August to its lowest level in nearly five years played a role as well in driving investors away from riskier assets.
Also, growth in U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly slowed in the month of July, according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index fell to 53.7 in July after dropping to 55.1 in June.
With the unexpected decrease, the non-manufacturing index slid to its lowest level since hitting 51.8 in August of 2016.
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