Gold price soars on Korea crisis

London/Mumbai, Aug. 29: Gold jumped to its highest since November on Tuesday as investors bought bullion as insurance against falling prices of other assets after North Korea tested a missile over Japan.

“Funds and traders are filling their boots with gold at the moment and so far that’s justified,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

“No matter where you look you can’t point your finger at anything that’s gold negative. Stocks are coming off hard, the dollar has weakened and now also against the yen, which has been the missing link, while bond yields are also taking a beating.”

In Mumbai, standard gold (99.5 purity) jumped by `520 to close at `29,765 per 10 grams from Monday’s closing level of `29,245. Pure gold (99.9 purity) also gained by a similar margin to close at `29,915 per 10 grams against `29,395.

Globally, spot gold, which rose for a third straight session, was up 0.9 per cent at $1,321.04 an ounce by 9.40 am (GMT) after touching $1,325.94, its highest since November 9, 2016.

Geopolitical risks can boost demand for safehaven assets such as gold, which is considered a good store of value during volatility in other markets.

Silver surpassed the `40,000 level again with industrial units and coin makers stepping up demand. Silver (.999 fineness) zoomed by `805 per kg to close at `40,030 from `39,225 previously.