Gold on 3-month high

BENGALURU. — Gold held near three-month highs yesterday as political risks from elections in Europe and worry over US President Donald Trump’s policies buoyed safe-haven demand for bullion.

Spot gold dipped 0,1 percent to $1 240,46 per ounce at 2.43am GMT. On Wednesday, the metal touched its highest since November 11 at $1 244,67. US gold futures rose 0,2 percent to $1 242 per ounce.

“Gold prices will be a little bit range-bound with some upside bias for the next few weeks or so,” said OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan.

“The risk factors have not really changed so far — we’re talking about Donald Trump, we’re talking about the political situation in Europe and because of all these factors, we do expect market watchers to stay cautious into the months ahead to gauge how the global economy is going to perform.”

Spot gold could edge up to $1 249 per ounce, as it had cleared a resistance at $1 237, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Investors were concerned about the strong showing in the French presidential race of farright candidate Marine le Pen, who has promised to take France out of the eurozone and to hold a referendum on EU membership. Controversy over Trump’s temporary travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries has recently boosted gold as a safe-haven asset.

“Geopolitical risks continue to underpin gold in the face of the prospect of higher US interest rates this year,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda.

“Increasing hostilities in the Ukraine, Greek bail-outs, French elections, Iran-US sabre-rattling have all combined to see investors flee to safe havens, of which gold is the main beneficiary.”