Investing.com - Gold prices slid in midmorning trade on Friday, hitting its lowest level so far this year despite news that the U.S. was pushing forward with tariffs on an additional $50 billion in Chinese goods.
At 10:47AM ET (14:47GMT), gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $25.70, or 2.0%, to $1,282.60 a troy ounce. That was close to an intraday low of $1,281.10, its lowest level since December 25.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on $50 billion of Chinese goods on Friday, with China threatening to respond.
The two largest economies in the world have been in a tit-for-tat over global trade tariffs in recent months as the two struggle to reconcile their trade differences. The tariffs have increased chances of a full-blown global trade war as the European Union and Canada have voted to retaliate against U.S. metal tariffs.
Gold is generally sought out as a safe haven store of value in times of political and economic uncertainty.
Experts RBC Wealth Management pointed to the losses in U.S. equities on Friday and suggested that gold was being hit by investors who were raising cash to cover losses in stocks.
They remained upbeat on the precious metal based on current geopolitical tension and signs of inflation.
In other metals trading, silver futures sank 3.2% at $16.710 a troy ounce by 10:50AM ET (14:50GMT).
Palladium futures fell 1.6% to $990.10 an ounce, while sister metal platinum lost 2.2 % at $890.50.
In base metals, copper traded down 2.1% to $3.153 a pound.