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Concerns Over Syria Push Gold Prices To 15-Week High; Silver Prices also Rally

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Gold futures leaped more than 1.50% on Tuesday to touch its 15-week high level as edgy investors retreated from equity markets in hordes and clasped gold amid rising possibility that the U.S. and some other western countries could take military action against Syria. Silver prices also rallied in trading on Tuesday.

At last check, gold futures for December delivery climbed 1.80% to $1,418.20 an ounce while spot gold gained 1.02% to $1,418.68 an ounce. In late trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD) was up 1.23% to $137.11.

Silver futures rallied 2.56% to $24.67 an ounce.

Meanwhile crude oil prices jumped almost 3% as investors fear that possible military action could escalate geopolitical tensions in the middle-east, which could result in supply-chain disruptions.

The yen, which is regarded as one of the most liquid currency of the world in the times of macroeconomic uncertainty also rose sharply against a basket of major currencies.

Bullion’s safe-haven appeal received a major boost on Monday when the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry said that the Obama administration believed that the Syrian government used chemical weapons to kill its own people in Damascus, last week. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron also signaled towards a possible military strike on Syria on Tuesday.

Besides, some weak U.S. economic data releases  in the recent past has also raised speculation that the Federal Reserve could extend its gold-supportive, bond buying program by few more weeks.

Commenting over sharp jump in gold prices, Peter Fertig, owner at Quantitative Commodity Research said, “The major reason for gold’s gains is the safe-haven buying on the back of geopolitical tension in Syria and soaring crude oil prices, which are another source of support for gold,” according to Reuters.








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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