2019.10.1414:33:00UTC+00Gold Comes Off 2-week Lows, Ends Higher On Trade Deal Uncertainty

Gold prices edged higher on safe-haven appeal on Monday amid some uncertainty about U.S.-China trade agreement on reports China wants another round of talks before signing the 'phase one deal.'

Uncertainty over Brexit and weak data out of China weighed on riskier assets such as equities.

However, the dollar's advance against most major currencies limited the yellow metal's gains.

The dollar index was last seen at 98.50, up more than 0.2% from previous close.

Gold futures for December ended up $8.90, or about 0.6%, at $1,497.60 an ounce, after advancing to a high of $1,501.50.

On Friday, gold futures settled with a loss of $12.20, or 0.8%, at $1,488.70 an ounce, the lowest level in about two weeks. Gold futures shed about 1.6% last week.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.166, at $17.710 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.6340 per pound, gaining $0.0060 for the session.

The U.S. and China reached a phase one deal late on Friday, but scant details about the deal cast doubts over the durability of the partial preliminary deal.

The deal hardly touches on the real sticking points of technology transfer and intellectual property theft.

Although the U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. and China have reached a "very substantial phase one deal," it now turns out China wants another round of talks before signing the agreement.

According to a report in Bloomberg News, China may send a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He to finalize a written deal that could be signed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month in Chile.

Another source reportedly told Bloomberg that China wants a planned tariff hike in December to be scrapped in addition to the hike scheduled for this week.