London — Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday after China and the US threatened to impose fresh tariffs on each other, boosting the precious metal’s safe-haven appeal. US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 10% tariff on $200bn of Chinese goods and Beijing warned it would retaliate, in a rapid escalation of the trade conflict between the world’s two biggest economies. The move raised concerns about the prospects for global growth amid a trade war and triggered a sell-off in equities while lifting the yen and the dollar index. Gold prices can gain during times of financial and political uncertainty as the metal is seen as a safe place to park assets, alongside the yen. "Gold is up slightly despite a higher dollar and that suggests that there is some safe-haven demand going into gold prices on the back of the trade dispute," said Capital Economics commodities economist Simona Gambarini. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,279.38 an ounce by 10.42am GMT while US gold futures for Augus...

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