Gold climbs 1% higher to highest close since September-end

Gold prices closed in the green today, Oct. 9, amid increasing demand for safe havens after the recent political unrest in the Middle East, erasing losses recorded over the past two consecutive weeks.

The yellow metal prices touched a seven-month low at the end of last week, as US Treasury bond yields expanded amid growing expectations of further monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

During today’s session, gold prices rose as high as 2.70% on the Shanghai Gold Exchange — the biggest jump in almost seven weeks, more than $112 an ounce higher than levels seen in the London Stock Exchange.

Chances that the US central bank would lift the benchmark rate by 25 basis points at the coming November meeting decreased to 13.50%, compared to 27.10% on Oct. 6, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Given the burgeoning Middle East conflict, the Federal Reserve is widely anticipated to not decide on further interest rate increases amid heightened uncertainty.

In terms of trading, bullion for December delivery leapt by roughly 1%, or $19.10, to end at $1,864.30 per ounce — the highest settlement since Sept. 29.

Likewise, the US dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six major currencies, climbed by 0.10% to 106.13 points at 08:44 pm Makkah time.