PRECIOUS-Gold jumps 1% as Trump threatens new tariffs on China

(Updates prices)
* Spot gold down 1.8% so far this week
* Palladium eyes 5th straight weekly drop
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global coronavirus
spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser

By Eileen Soreng
May 1 (Reuters) - Gold jumped more than 1% on Friday,
shaking off initial losses, as risk sentiment soured on U.S.
President Donald Trump's threat to impose new tariffs on China,
but bullion was still on track for its worst week since
mid-March.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.9% to $1,695.21 per ounce by 1:41
p.m. EDT (1741 GMT).
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled 0.4% higher at $1,700.90.
"We saw some weakness in the U.S. equities markets ... It
seemed Trump was hinting at a resurgence of the trade war,"
said Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures
in Chicago.
"That being said, a lot of investors liquidated various
asset classes that might be affected by that and went back into
safety, specifically gold."
Trump said on Thursday his trade deal with China was now of
secondary importance to the coronavirus pandemic and he
threatened new tariffs on Beijing, as his administration crafted
retaliatory measures over the outbreak. U.S. stocks fell on Trump's warning, and as Apple AAPL.O
and Amazon AMZN.O became the latest companies to warn of more
pain in the future. .N
Considered a safe store of value during economic or
political turmoil, gold was, however, on track to post a more
than 1% decline for the week as more economies eased
restrictions and as investors covered losses in wider markets.
South Africa took its first steps on Friday towards rolling
back one of the world's strictest COVID-19 lockdowns, a day
after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to set out a plan
next week on how Britain might start gradually returning to
normal life. "However, gold's narrative has not changed much. We're in
for a gloomy run of economic data over the next few months and
central banks will continue to ease, including the U.S. Federal
Reserve, which opens up gold to go higher," said Stephen Innes,
chief market strategist at financial services firm AxiCorp.
New data shows U.S. manufacturing activity plunged to an
11-year low in April as the novel coronavirus wreaked havoc on
supply chains, supporting analysts' views the economy was
sinking deeper into recession. Gold tends to benefit from widespread stimulus as it is
often seen as a hedge against inflation and currency debasement.
Palladium XPD= slipped 3.3% to $1,895.19 per ounce, on
track for its fifth straight weekly decline.
Platinum XPT= shed 1.5% to $760.59 per ounce and silver
XAG= was down 1.1% at $14.86.