Gold climbs as US-Israel strikes on Iran spark safe-haven demand

Gold prices rose on Monday after the US and Israel launched major strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, escalating geopolitical tensions and deepening global economic uncertainty.Spot gold was up 1% at $5,329.39 an ounce, as of 0201 GMT, after hitting its highest point in more than four weeks.Earlier in the session, bullion prices climbed as much as 2%.US gold futures rose 1.8% to $5,342.80 per ounce.Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran on Sunday and Iran responded with more missile barrages, a day after the killing of Khamenei pitched the Middle East and the global economy into deepening uncertainty.“Unlike previous escalations in this conflict, there is fairly strong incentive here for both sides to continue to escalate potentially – and that runs the risk of leading to a pretty chaotic, uncertain and therefore volatile environment for more than just a few days … the dynamic for gold is pretty positive” said Kyle Rodda.Bullion, a traditional safe-haven asset, has hit successive record highs already this year due to heightened global political and economic uncertainty.The latest rally builds on a 64% surge in 2025, driven by strong central bank buying, robust inflows into exchange-traded funds and expectations of U.S. monetary policy easing.Last week, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America reiterated that gold prices could climb toward the key $6,000 level. J.P. Morgan noted that it forecasts enough demand from central banks and investors this year to ultimately push prices to $6,300 an ounce by the end of 2026.“Gold is perhaps the finest barometer to reflect global uncertainty and, to mix metaphors, the mercury is rising. We should expect gold to be repriced higher to fresh records as we enter a whole new era of geopolitical uncertainty,” said independent analyst Ross Norman.Data on Friday showed that U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in January, suggesting inflation could pick up in coming months.Investors will also watch a series of US labor market readings this week, including the ADP employment report, weekly jobless claims and the non-farm payrolls report.Spot silver shed 1.2% to $92.72 an ounce after registering a monthly gain in February.Spot platinum fell nearly 1% to $2,343.50 an ounce, while palladium advanced 0.5% to $1,795.11 per ounce.

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