PRECIOUS-Gold touches over 6-yr peak as risk-off appetite stoked

Aug 26 (Reuters) - Gold prices jumped to a fresh six-year
high on Monday as the announcement of new tariffs in the
escalating Sino-U.S. trade war sent equity markets tumbling, and
investors rushing for safe-have assets.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= jumped 1.2% to $1,544 per ounce as of
0141 GMT, having earlier touched $1,554.56 an ounce, its highest
since April 2013.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were up 1.1% at $1,554.90 an
ounce.
* On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 5%
additional duty on $550 billion in targeted Chinese goods, hours
after China unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of
U.S. products. * This caused U.S. stocks to dive on Friday: with the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC down 3%, and the S&P 500 .SPX down 2.6%.
* On Monday, Japan's Nikkei .N225 and MSCI's broadest
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell sharply.
MKTS/GLOB
* The markets are fully priced for a quarter-point cut in
rates next month, and over 100 basis points of easing by the end
of next year. FEDWATCH
* Yields on 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR dived from a
top of 1.66% on Friday, leaving them almost matching two-year
yields. US/
* The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback's
value against a basket of six major currencies, slid 0.5% on
Friday, and was hovering close to that level. USD/
* Traders are looking at the Group of Seven summit, where
Trump said he wished he had raised tariffs on Chinese goods even
higher last week. * SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.58% to 859.83
tonnes on Friday. GOL/ETF
* Hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish
stance in COMEX gold and upped net long positions in silver
contracts in the week to Aug. 20, the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday. * Last week, most Asian hubs experienced a slight uptick in
physical gold demand as consumers took advantage of a retreat in
prices. DATA AHEAD (GMT)
* 0800 Germany Ifo Business Climate New Aug
* 0800 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New Aug
* 0800 Germany Ifo Expectations New Aug
* 1230 US Durable Goods July