Gold Struggles to Shine Again Amid Middle East Turmoil

Gold is reclaiming its allure as a safe-haven asset, sparkling at the start of Tuesday’s trading session. The precious metal’s resurgence is fueled by renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have roared back to the forefront, extinguishing hopes of a swift de-escalation between Iran and Israel. The conflict, now in its fifth day, has escalated into a dangerous cycle of mutual aggression and military clashes. Iran announced strikes on sensitive Israeli targets, including an intelligence headquarters, while Israel claimed it conducted operations inside Iran, notably eliminating Iran’s newly appointed army chief of staff just four days after his appointment.

The unrelenting violence has sent shockwaves through global financial markets, prompting a sharp retreat in risk appetite. Equity markets have stumbled as investors adopt an increasingly cautious stance, with no immediate signs of a ceasefire to ease the uncertainty. Against this backdrop, gold futures climbed earlier to $3,390 per ounce, before stabilizing at the $3,390 mark, at the time of writing, and it is still higher from the previous day’s close of $3,384.

During the North American session, the yellow metal fluctuated, touching a low of $3,366 and peaking at $3,403. This volatility reflects the market’s jittery response to the unfolding crisis, with gold capitalizing on the flight to safety. As the Middle East turmoil shows no signs of abating, gold’s appeal as a hedge against uncertainty continues to grow, positioning it to potentially scale new heights in the sessions ahead.