Gold prices in India may have lost some steam after hitting record highs recently, however, they remained high on Friday, mirroring international trends. Gold futures (October 2019) on MCX were trading 0.13 percent higher at Rs 38,212/10 grams, close to its all-time high of Rs 38,666, seen recently.

In the global market, spot gold was up by 0.2 percent at $1,525.21 an ounce. In total, it has gained 2 percent this week. US gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,535.50 per ounce, a Reuters report said.

The trend in the international market was on account of 30-year US Treasury bond yields hitting an all-time low and conflicting statements made by the US and China on their trade spat status. On Thursday, Beijing said that it will retaliate on the latest $300 billion American tariffs (to become effective on 1 September) but also called on Washington to meet it halfway on a potential trade deal.

Trump, later on the same day, said that his administration had "very productive" talks with China before delaying tariffs on Chinese goods worth over $150 billion till 15 December. He also said that he does not think Beijing would retaliate on tariffs and believes China wants to make a trade deal.

In a statement, the China's finance ministry said that the US had violated a consensus that was reached between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at summit in Japan in June to resolve their dispute. "We hope the U.S. will meet China halfway, and implement the consensus of the two heads of the two countries in Osaka," the ministry's spokesperson said in a separate statement.

With no clear direction on the trade negotiations, investor have been parking their money on safe-haven assets like gold, Japanese yen and US bonds.

Further, silver futures (September 2019) on MCX were trading at Rs 44,100 on Friday. Silver prices had hit Rs 45,000/kg at the spot market in Delhi earlier this week, a record high.