13.03.201907:23:00UTC+00Gold Hits Two-week High On Safe-haven Demand

Gold prices hit a two-week high on Wednesday amid uncertainty over Brexit as well ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.

Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,308.69 per ounce while U.S. gold futures were up 0.85 percent at $1,308.95 per ounce.

A delay to Brexit looks inevitable after MPs voted by 391 to 242 to reject Prime Minister May's revised plans for the U.K.'s exit from the European Union.

The result plunged the country into fresh instability just 17 days before the planned exit day of March 29.

Parliament will vote later today on whether Britain will crash out of the EU with no deal. If that fails, a further vote on Thursday will decide whether to extend the Brexit deadline.

Investors also waited for signs of progress on the U.S.-China trade dispute, with Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, saying that "major issues" must still be resolved for a successful U.S.-China trade deal.

On the data front, a report showed Japan's machinery orders fell in January at the fastest pace in four months, as the U.S.-China tariff war hit global trade.

Chinese industrial output and retail sales data are scheduled for release this week.