GLOBAL MARKETS-Gold gains as trade concerns weigh on global markets

* Gold hits 6-year high
* Prolonged U.S.-China trade war feared after Trump remarks
* MSCI index of global shares falls

(Updates through U.S. close)
By David Randall
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Signs of further escalation of
the U.S.-China trade war and weak UK economic data weighed on
global markets on Friday, capping a volatile week that has
pushed gold to its highest level in six years.
Safe havens like the Japanese yen gained after a report that
Washington was delaying a decision about allowing some trade
between U.S. companies and China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
HWT.UL again spooked Asian markets. The prospect of snap
elections in Italy brought down shares across Europe, while
London's FTSE 100 index .FTSE and the pound GBP= sank after
Britain reported its economy shrank in the second quarter, the
first contraction in seven years. "It has been a very volatile week," said Elwin de Groot,
Rabobank's head of macro strategy.
"Until recently, the markets' view was that this trade war
will be resolved, but clearly now the thinking is that maybe
this is not the case and it could be accelerating from here," he
said.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
0.53%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
90.75 points, or 0.34%, to 26,287.44, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
19.42 points, or 0.66%, to 2,918.67 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 80.02 points, or 1%, to 7,959.14.
Stock losses accelerated after U.S. President Donald Trump
said he was "not ready" to make a deal with China and that the
United States would continue to refrain from doing business with
Huawei.
"Until we get some sort of tangible answers to what the
(Trump) administration is going to do with China, this is going
to be an overhang on the market, creating plenty of sharp
swings," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines
Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR last fell 5/32
in price to yield 1.7326%, down from 1.715% late on Thursday.
The Japanese currency JPY= rose as much as 0.4% against
the dollar to 105.70 yen, nearly an eight-month high.
"The news about Huawei triggered the rise in the yen," said
Junichi Ishikawa, senior foreign exchange strategist at IG
Securities. "This is a reminder that the U.S.-China trade
dispute remains a risk, and this risk is not receding."
Gold XAU= rose above $1,500, its highest in more than six
years, en route to its best week since April 2016.
"The trade spat is driving the market crazy," said Jigar
Trivedi, commodities analyst at Mumbai-based Anand Rathi Shares
& Stock Brokers. "$1,500 (for gold) is now the new normal unless
trade relations take a turn in a right direction."
Bank of America Merrill Lynch noted that a massive $2.3
billion pile into gold funds over the last week had been the
fourth-largest inflow ever.
Expectations of production cuts by the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries pushed Brent crude LCOc1 up 1.7%
to $58.34 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
CLc1 up 3.5% to $54.39.

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Global assets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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