LONDON: Gold prices rose on Monday on fresh doubts over whether China and the United States can strike a trade deal, while a sluggish start to the week in equities weighed on risk appetite after violent weekend protests in Hong Kong.

Spot gold prices were 0.2 per cent higher at $1,461.70 per ounce as of 1323 GMT, after slumping 3.6pc last week in their worst weekly fall in three years. US gold futures were steady at $1,462.60 per ounce.

“The gold market is trying to find its feet after last week’s washout... It only makes sense that the recently established shorts scale back,” said Saxo Bank commodity strategist Ole Hansen.

“One reason why gold is higher is because the trade deal is still only speculation, and we are yet to see it. The markets are being a bit cautious here.”

Stock markets dropped on Monday with a fresh escalation of violence in Hong Kong also weighing on prices.

Local police fired live rounds at protesters, with Cable TV and other Hong Kong media reporting at least one demonstrator being wounded. Video footage showed a protester lying in a pool of blood.

“The turmoil in Hong Kong has not helped market sentiment as it (has) underlined rising geopolitical tensions in the region. Further market corrections are to be expected this week,” said Pierre Veyret, Technical analyst at ActivTrades.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday that Beijing wanted a trade deal more than he did.

Officials from both sides had said on Thursday that the two countries had agreed to roll back tariffs on each others’ goods in a “phase one” trade deal.

Elsewhere, Britain’s economy grew at its slowest annual rate in nearly a decade in the three months to the end of September as a global slowdown and Brexit worries hit business investment and manufacturing.

However, data showed business investment held steady in the third quarter versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5pc fall.

Among other precious metals, palladium dropped 1.5pc to $1,717.40 an ounce, after falling 3.3pc on Friday. Platinum slipped slightly to $886.11, while silver rose 0.1pc to $16.81 after slipping 7.1pc in the previous week.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2019