Investing.com - Gold prices traded higher on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s critique of the Federal Reserve led to a softer dollar, upping the demand of foreign currency holders for the dollar-denominated asset.
At 10:56 AM ET (14:561 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.40, or 0.12%, to $1,196.00 a troy ounce.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Trump said that he was "not thrilled" with the Fed under his own appointee, chairman Jerome Powell, for raising interest rates and suggested that the U.S. central bank should do more to help him to boost the economy.
“We’re negotiating (trade) very powerfully and strongly with other nations. We’re going to win. But during this period of time I should be given some help by the Fed. The other countries are accommodated,” Trump said, adding that it was his belief that China and Europe were manipulating their currencies.
As happened in a similar situation back in July when Trump expressed his discontent at the Fed tightening monetary policy, the dollar moved lower. That was despite analyst comments and reports from Fed inside sources that the president’s comments would do little to derail the central bank’s plans to move forward with gradual rate hikes.
Meanwhile, escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and its trading partners and a plunge in the Turkish lira had pushed the dollar index to 96.86 on August 15, its highest since June 2017.
Markets were also gearing up for talks between Washington and Beijing expected to take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Although the negotiations involve lower-level officials, they are still the first formal U.S.-China trade talks since June.
In other metals trading, silver futures rose 0.48% at $14.740 a troy ounce by 10:57 AM ET (14:57 GMT).
Palladium futures traded up 0.27% to $901.10 an ounce, while sister metal platinum fell 0.48% at $803.30.
In base metals, copper gained 0.96% to $2.704 a pound.