PRECIOUS-Gold rises after Trump proposes more tariffs on China

April 6 (Reuters) – Gold prices rose on Friday as investors
sought safer assets after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed
$100 billion in new tariffs on China, raising concerns about an
escalating trade spat between the United States and China.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was 0.4 percent higher at $1,330.78 per
ounce as of 0032 GMT, and the U.S. gold futures rose 0.4
percent to $1,334.10 an ounce.

* Spot gold on Thursday dropped to a one-week low of
$1,322.40 an ounce after the United States and China signalled
willingness to negotiate a trade dispute.

* However, President Donald Trump late on Thursday said he
had instructed U.S. trade officials to consider $100 billion in
additional tariffs on China, fuelling an already heated trade
dispute between the world’s two biggest economies.

* U.S. stock markets slid and the yen rose against the
dollar on Friday.

* Gold-backed exchange traded funds in North America saw
inflows in March, amid market volatility and as trade tensions
between the United States and China drove safe-haven purchases
to bullion, while Europe saw outflows for the second straight
month.

* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world’s largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.24 percent to 854.09
tonnes on Thursday from 852.03 tonnes on Wednesday.

* Physical gold demand in most Asian hubs was muted this
week, weighed down by stronger prices, despite a slight pick-up
in buying in India ahead of the wedding season and a key
festival.

* The U.S. trade deficit increased to a near 9-1/2-year high
in February, with both imports and exports rising to record
highs in a sign of strong domestic and global demand.

* Koza Ltd, whose founder had to abandon his Turkish gold
assets, is expanding its operations in Britain with a $1 million
programme to drill for gold in Ayrshire, Scotland, together with
a venture partner, the company said on Thursday.

* Swiss refiner Valcambi said it has signed a long-term deal
to refine and sell-on gold from a Fairtrade-accredited
concession of Peruvian mining co-operative Minera Limata, part
of a broader strategy to drive responsible mining.

* International mining companies have insisted that
Democratic Republic of Congo amend portions of a new mining code
to respect exemptions they were granted by its predecessor.