Gold hit a near five-month peak on Friday, rising over one percent on safe-haven buying after the U.S. military launched cruise missile strikes against a Syrian air base controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed military strikes against the air base in response to a deadly chemical attack in a rebel-held area, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
Facing his biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office in January, Trump took the toughest direct U.S. action yet in Syria’s six-year-old civil war, raising the risk of confrontation with Russia and Iran, Assad’s two main military backers.
Spot gold rose 1.3 percent to $1,267.43 per ounce by 0225 GMT, after touching a high of $1,269.28, its highest since Nov. 10, and was track for a fourth straight week of gains.
U.S. gold futures also rose 1.3 percent to $1,269.
“Clearly this raises the stakes and we expect to see gold prices continuing to push higher in the short-term, at least until there is some clarity around whether this is a one-off or develops into something more,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.
Source: CNBC
