Gold continues to surge in today’s trading session, following on from last weeks solid gains as investors seek out safe havens against the rising threat of trade tensions between the US and China and the decision by the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

Investors have jumped back into gold in a big way in June and July, helping to drive up prices. Silver prices are also up sharply this year. Lower interest rates makes non-yielding gold and silver more attractive.

Just when it seemed like the rift over trade between the world’s 2 superpowers was starting to wane, US President Donald Trump announced a new range of tariffs against China which is on top of the tariffs already in place and will now cover almost all of Chinese imports.

The move threatens to undermine global growth at a time when a number of other factors are wreaking havoc on the world economy such as the ongoing Brexit debacle.

Last week the Fed cuts interest rates by 25 basis points and in there following monetary statement announced the possibility of further cuts which gave gold a serious boost as investors exited the US dollar in droves as a reduction in rates makes the greenback less appealing as an interest-bearing asset.

This in turn helped the gold price and according to some analysts, the $1500 mark for gold is now a real possibility and especially if the relationship between China and the US deteriorates further.

“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 is 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.” He added.