“People are moving some capital into gold at this time, given the uncertainties around the pace of rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the U.S.-China trade war,” said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore dealer GoldSilver Central.
U.S. gold futures were up about 0.4 percent at $1,227.5 per ounce.
Spot gold rose 0.3 percent higher to $1,226.0 per ounce by 0834 GMT.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Argentina at the end of this week.
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Officials from some G20 countries, anxious to see a swift end to the Sino-U.S. trade war, are hopeful but not confident that the meeting may yield at least a partial ceasefire.
“The growing unease regarding the G20 summit and the possibility of a deal has seen gold prices hold up relatively well,” analysts at ANZ said in a note.
However, analaysts said gold’s direction in the near term will largely be dictated by the dollar’s movement, which has significanly dented bullion’s appeal as a safe haven during political and economic uncertainty.
Gold declined over 10 percent from a peak in April while the dollar gained as the trade tussle unfolded against a backdrop of higher U.S. interest rates.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was 0.1 percent lower. Meanwhile, Asian stocks posted modest gains althouth overall risk appetitie was tempered by a recent rout in oil markets.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak on Wednesday while Vice Chairman Richard Clarida’s speech is due on Tuesday.
The U.S. Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee will also release the minutes from its November 7-8 policy meeting later this week. The market will look for any discussion of what conditions might bring about a Fed pause.
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“Looking at some economic data earlier this month — such as U.S. jobs data, which showed some stagnancy in growth — if there is any such threat to the data points, we may see the interest rate scenario becoming slightly dovish,”.
