Aug 26 (Reuters) - Gold prices jumped to a fresh six-yearhigh on Monday as the announcement of new tariffs in theescalating Sino-U.S. trade war sent equity markets tumbling, andinvestors rushing for safe-have assets.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold jumped 1.2% to $1,544 per ounce as of0141 GMT, having earlier touched $1,554.56 an ounce, its highestsince April 2013.
* U.S. gold futures were up 1.1% at $1,554.90 anounce.
* On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 5%additional duty on $550 billion in targeted Chinese goods, hoursafter China unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth ofU.S. products.
* This caused U.S. stocks to dive on Friday: with the NasdaqComposite down 3%, and the S&P 500 down 2.6%.
* On Monday, Japan's Nikkei and MSCI's broadestindex of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell sharply.
* The markets are fully priced for a quarter-point cut inrates next month, and over 100 basis points of easing by the endof next year.
* Yields on 10-year Treasury notes dived from atop of 1.66% on Friday, leaving them almost matching two-yearyields.
* The dollar index, which measures the greenback'svalue against a basket of six major currencies, slid 0.5% onFriday, and was hovering close to that level.
* Traders are looking at the Group of Seven summit, whereTrump said he wished he had raised tariffs on Chinese goods evenhigher last week.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backedexchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.58% to 859.83tonnes on Friday.
* Hedge funds and money managers increased their bullishstance in COMEX gold and upped net long positions in silvercontracts in the week to Aug. 20, the U.S. Commodity FuturesTrading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
* Last week, most Asian hubs experienced a slight uptick inphysical gold demand as consumers took advantage of a retreat inprices.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
* 0800 Germany Ifo Business Climate New Aug
* 0800 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New Aug
* 0800 Germany Ifo Expectations New Aug
* 1230 US Durable Goods July(Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru)