Mubasher: Gold prices went up on Wednesday, having gained as much as 1% in the preceding session, due to dismal US factory report that fuelled fears of a steep global slowdown and raised wagers on further interest rate cuts, Reuters reported.

By 9:31 am GMT, spot gold rose by 0.32% to $1,483.87 per ounce, having jumped as much as 1% on Tuesday, while US gold futures ticked up by 0.05% to $1,489.80 per ounce.

In the light of the risks to the world’s economic growth, the yellow metal was seen by Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu the strongest safe-haven asset.

US manufacturing activity plunged to a more than decade-trough last September, as persisting trade tensions dragged exports down.

While the second successive contraction of US factory sector fuelled worries over a slowdown of the global economy among markets, it also raised the chances that the Federal Reserve could further relax its monetary policy.

That said, “until and unless Fed gives really strong dovish signals, we will see gold trading around $1,500.”

Reacting to the manufacturing data, US President Donald Trump repeated its criticism to the Fed, complaining that policymakers kept interest rates “too high” and a strong dollar harming American factories.

In the meantime, markets are awaiting US non-farm payrolls report due on Friday, to assess the economic conditions against the backdrop of the trade conflict with China.