The deteriorating relationship between the US and China and the low hope of quick economic recovery increased the demand of the safe-haven asset as it has risen nearly 28 percent so far this year.

European shares slid on Wednesday as escalating U.S.-China tensions as well as a surge in coronavirus cases dented sentiment after an EU-wide debt deal sent the region’s markets to four-month highs in the previous session.

Markets were eagerly waiting in the past week for news about the next level of production cuts. Meanwhile, Tuesday saw oil prices rising slightly as OPEC and its allies cut productions by more than it was agreed in June.

German exports rebounded less than expected in May amid lower demand despite the lifting of lockdown measures that were introduced to contain the spread of the coronavirus, showed data published on Thursday.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 4.8 million jobs in June, according to the Labour Department’s closely watched monthly employment on Thursday.

Gold which is considered a safe-haven asset in times of uncertainty and does not pay interest, tends to benefit when interest rates drop reducing the opportunity cost of holding the asset.

Inflation in the UK dropped to its lowest since June 2016 last month amid dry demand from the global economy and a drop in oil prices. The Office for National Statistics said that consumer price inflation slowed to 0.5 percent from 0.8 percent in April.

The US Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday predicted that the US economy would shrink 6.5 percent in 2020 and unemployment would still be at 9.3 percent at year end. It also indicated that it plans years of extraordinary support for the economy.

In its latest effort to support the eurozone economy, the European Central Bank increased its bond-buying programme on Thursday. It increased the size of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) to EUR 1.35 trillion…

A plan was unveiled on Wednesday to support the economies that were hammered by the pandemic, hoping to end months of disagreements.

In Europe, France and Germany called for the creation of a 500-billion-euro Recovery Fund able to offer grants to the countries and regions that are hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis.  The proposal is for the European Commission to borrow money…

In a closely watched speech Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave an assessment of the US economic outlook on Wednesday. Powell is the latest of the policymakers to brush off the idea that…