2018.08.3106:52:00UTC+00Gold Rises As Trade Tensions Escalate

Gold prices rose on Friday as escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China threatened to erupt into a full-blown trade war.

Spot gold was up 0.71 percent at $1,206.18 an ounce while U.S. gold futures were up 0.60 percent at $1,212.20 an ounce.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened in an interview with Bloomberg News on Thursday that the U.S. intends to move ahead with plans to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports as early as next week.

Trump also threatened to pull out from the World Trade Organization and called European trade policies "almost as bad as China," raising fresh worries over trade friction.

The cautious mood resulted in a big sell-off in emerging market currencies such as Argentina's peso, Brazilian real and the Turkish lira, which could have further ramifications across the globe.