2018.08.3114:28:00UTC+00Gold Snaps 3-day Losing Streak, Ends Modestly Higher

Gold prices edged higher on Friday with traders lapping up the yellow metal amid mounting worries about the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, the two largest economies in the world.

Meanwhile, Canadian and U.S. officials are negotiating to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. President Donald Trump, who set a Friday deadline for the three countries (U.S., Mexico and Canada) to reach an in-principle agreement, has warned that if Canada and U.S. could not reach a deal, more tariffs on imports of Canadian cars will be imposed by his administration. Mexico and the U.S. had announced a bilateral deal earlier this week.

According to reports, Canada's government officials have expressed concern that it may not be possible to work out a final North American Free Trade Agreement pact before the Friday deadline set by Trump.

With trade tensions escalating by the day and the Sino-US dispute threatening to erupt into a full-blown trade war, gold appears to be slowly getting back on track to get back its safe haven status.

Gold futures for December ended up $1.70, or 0.1%, at $1,206.70 an ounce. On Thursday, gold futures ended down $6.50, or 0.5%, at $1,205 an ounce.

Gold futures shed about 0.5% in the week, and 2.2% in August, registering losses for a fifth straight month.

Silver futures for December ended down $0.037, at $14.557 an ounce, while Copper futures settled at $2.6710 per pound, down $0.0465 from previous close.

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

Trump's threat that U.S. would pull out from the World Trade Organization and his remarks that European trade policies were "almost as bad as China," have raised fresh concerns over souring trade relations.