Gold prices climbed on Thursday, driven by escalating fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East, which bolstered demand for safe-haven assets. This trend offset concerns about the possibility of prolonged high interest rates in the United States.
At 0429 GMT, spot gold rose by 0.6 percent to $2,374.97 per ounce, rebounding from its recent peak of $2,431.29 reached last Friday. Meanwhile, US gold futures edged up by 0.1 percent to $2,389.70.
Kelvin Wong, chief market analyst for the Asia-Pacific region at OANDA, remarked, “The prevailing uptrend in gold is supported by significant uncertainty on the geopolitical front.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement asserting Israel’s autonomy in its defense decisions coincided with Western countries urging restraint in response to Iran’s recent attack over the weekend.
The allure of gold as a safe haven tends to rise during periods of geopolitical instability. However, the attractiveness of holding gold diminishes when interest rates remain high, as it is a non-yielding asset.
In other precious metals, silver also saw an uptick in spot transactions, rising by 0.6 percent to $28.38 per ounce. Platinum settled at $938.40, while palladium saw a modest increase of 0.2 percent to $1,027.82 per ounce.