By Geoffrey Smith
- Gold prices touched $1,600 an ounce on Tuesday for the first time since the scare over a conflict between the U.S. and Iran at the start of the year, after a warning from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) about a hit to sales revived fears of a global economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Apple had warned of a twofold hit to iPhone sales, with depressed footfall in its Chinese stores compounded by production constraints in its supply chain. The warning fleshed out anecdotal reports that the Chinese economy is still only functioning at around half of capacity owing to extensive restrictions on people returning to work after the Lunar New Year holidays.
By 10:30 AM ET (1530 GMT), gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were up 0.9% at $1,600.05, while spot gold was up 1.0% at $1,597.39.
