Gold Prices Gain on Trade Concerns

Gold prices gained almost 1% on Wednesday in Asia amid the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war.

Gold futures for December delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were up 0.9% to $1,496.65 by 12:50 AM ET (04:50 GMT).

The safe-haven gold was buoyed by safe-haven demand amid the intensifying U.S.-China trade war and falling stock markets.

On Wednesday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint reference for the yuan at 6.9996.

The PBOC said in a statement earlier in the day that the “United States disregards the facts and unreasonably affixes China with the label of ‘currency manipulators,’ which is a behaviour that harms others and oneself.”

The statement came after the U.S. labelled China a "currency manipulator" following the People's Bank of China's decision to allow the yuan to fall below 7 to the dollar on Monday.

Tensions between the two sides intensified amid U.S. President Trump’s decision last week to impose a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports from Sept 1.

Some also believe the ongoing trade war increased odds of more easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which further supports gold prices as lower interest rates boost the appeal of non-interest yielding assets