PRECIOUS-Gold hits six-year high as trade, growth concerns boost demand

* SPDR Gold holdings rise 0.4% on Friday
* Speculators increase net longs in COMEX gold
* Spot gold may climb into $1,461-$1,474/oz range - techs

(Updates prices)
By Harshith Aranya
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Gold prices jumped more than 1% to their
highest in more than six years on Monday, as the escalating
trade war between the United States and China along with global
growth worries drove investors towards safe-haven assets.
Spot gold XAU= was up 1.1% at $1,456.51 per ounce as of
0725 GMT, after hitting its highest since May 2013 at $1,459.47
earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.8% to $1,468.50 an ounce.
"Gold is certainly benefiting from the global concerns about
the outlook for growth, and central banks are likely to maintain
their accommodative stance, so safe-havens like gold are in
demand," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist, CMC
Markets.
"Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are an important
factor, the potential for escalation is very high ... we might
not get what markets are fearing, but it is all adding to the
real concerns about the outlook for growth assets."
On Friday, China said it will fight back against U.S.
President Donald Trump's decision to impose an additional 10%
tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. The tariffs may force the Federal Reserve to cut interest
rates more than it had hoped was necessary to protect the U.S.
economy from trade-policy risks. Meanwhile, recent economic readings from the U.S. cemented
expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates again in
September after it delivered its first rate reduction in more
than a decade last month. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of
holding non-yielding bullion, and weigh on the dollar.
Helping the bullion's appeal, the dollar index .DXY
touched a one-week low, making gold cheaper for investors
holding other currencies. USD/
Adding to the global economic gloom, China's services sector
expanded at the slowest pace in five months in July despite a
sharp upturn of new export orders, a private survey showed on
Monday. "Near-term outlook for gold looks positive. All this
volatility, growth fears, persistent weakness in economic data
will be good enough for risk-off environment," said Benjamin Lu,
an analyst at Phillip Futures.
Further helping gold's allure, Asian shares slid to
6-1/2-month lows on Monday. MKTS/GLOB
On the technical front, spot gold may climb to a range of
$1,461-$1,474 per ounce, said Reuters technical analyst Wang
Tao. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.36% to 830.76 tonnes on
Friday from Thursday. GOL/ETF
Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish stance
in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to July 30, the
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.
Elsewhere, silver XAG= gained 1.9% to $16.51 per ounce and
platinum XPT= climbed 1.4% to $854.33.
Palladium XPD= rose 1% to $1,420.60 an ounce.

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