Gold hits over the six-year peak on risk-off sentiment

Goldprices scaled their highest in more thansixyears on Tuesday, as concerns around protests in Hong Kong and an Argentine currency crash amid fears of global economic slowdown, prompted investors to move away fromriskier assets.

Spotgoldrose 0.7 per cent to $1,521.98 per ounce as of 0715 GMT, its highest since April 2013.

USgoldfutures rose 1 per cent to $1,533 an ounce.

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"It is a pretty straight forward case ofriskaversion. Crisis in Argentina and political deterioration in Hong Kong; underlying all of this, global growth is slowing," said Ilya Spivak, senior currency strategist with DailyFx.

"Central banks can only do so much because a lot of them are at near record-low interest rates. There is not a lot of ammunition to deploy as countermeasures to the slowdown in global growth."

Protesters managed to shut down Hong Kong's airport, the world's busiest cargo airport, on Monday.

The protests, which started as an opposition to an extradition bill to mainland China, have expanded into wider calls for democracy.

On the other side of the globe, fears of a possible return to interventionist policies gripped the Argentine market after market-friendly President Mauricio Macri lost by a much bigger-than-expected margin in presidential primaries.

These uncertainties alongside fears of a drawn-out Sino-US trade war rattled financial markets, spurring investors to safe-haven assets.

Bullion, along with the Japanese yen and US Treasuries, is seen as a relatively safe investment in times of political and financial uncertainty.

The yen stood near a seven-month high against the dollar.

Investors are focused on the Federal Reserve's annual symposium next week.

Traders see a 74 per cent chance of a 25 basis-point rate cut by the Fed this September.

Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and weigh on the dollar, makinggoldcheaper for investors holding other currencies.

"Heightened geopoliticalrisks from Hong Kong protests along with global growth concerns remain largely supportive towards safe-haven flows," brokerage Phillip Futures said in a note.

"Goldprices must hold above $1,500 for an extension of the bullish wave in the current term."

Reflecting increased investor interest ingold, holdings of SPDRGoldTrust, the world's largestgold-backed exchange-traded fund, jumped 0.9 per cent to 847.77 tonnes on Monday from Friday.

Spotgoldmay test a resistance at $1,524 per ounce, a break above which could lead to a gain to $1,546, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Among other precious metals, silver climbed 1.8 per cent to $17.36 per ounce. During the session, it hit its highest since January 2018 at $17.42. Platinum rose 1.3 per cent to $863.83 and palladium gained 0.7 per cent to $1,437.98 an ounce.