Gold prices firm with US-China trade tensions in focus

Gold prices were steady on Friday, remaining on track for a weekly gain as investors shy away from riskier assets on worries that a rift over trade between the United States and China could deepen if talks between the two fail to reach a deal.

Spot gold was unchanged at $1,283.41 per ounce at 0311 GMT and is up about 0.4 percent for the week.

U.S. gold futures were also steady at $1,284.30 an ounce.

Top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators concluded the first of two days of talks on Thursday to rescue a trade deal that is close to collapsing as Washington prepares to go ahead with plans to hike tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods imported from China.

Before they get back around the table on Friday, the United States will have increased duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods, to 25 percent from 10 percent. The duties apply to cargoes leaving China after 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) Friday.

"There is still some level of uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-China trade deal, and when gold tends to go down there seems to be opportunistic buying," said John Sharma, economist at National Australian Bank.

The metal had fallen to its lowest since the end of December late last week, but has since risen nearly 1.4 percent.

However, climbs in gold have been somewhat muted despite broad risk-aversion in the market, with other safe-havens such as the yen and Swiss Franc gaining.

"A lot of the (influence form) trade talks was priced in, and for gold to rise more sustainably we need to see some more weakness in the (broader financial) market," said Sharma.

"There was some concern about global growth, but there still hasn't been any news that confirms the economy is going to be much slower."

Gold was also facing a barrier around $1,290 levels, restricting buying from traders who follow technical charts, analysts said.

Spot gold is targeting a range of $1,267-$1,274 as it failed to break resistance at $1,291 per ounce, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Meanwhile, palladium rose 1.4 percent to $1,313.05 an ounce, having fallen over 4 percent in the previous session to its lowest since Jan. 4 at $1,263.85. The metal is still on track for its second straight weekly decline.

Silver edged up 0.1 percent to $14.78 per ounce, while platinum rose 1.4 percent to $856.

Silver is on course to register a second straight week of declines, while platinum looks set for a third weekly drop in a row.