By Gold prices rose over 1 percent to hover near one-week highs on Monday due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Spot gold rose a little over 1 percent to $1,851.74 per ounce in European trade, after having staged a dramatic intraday rebound to end notably higher on Friday. U.S. gold futures were up 1.1 percent at $1,865.65.
Gold, the dollar and bonds were seeing safe-haven bids after clashes between Israeli and Hamas forces over the weekend raised the risk of a wider Middle East conflict. With the rising death toll, the war looks set to intensify.
Hopes of Fed rate pause also supported bullion after Friday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report revealed that wage growth remained moderate during the reported month.
Data showed U.S. employers added 336000 jobs in September, almost double what experts had forecast and the biggest gain since January.
However, the hourly earnings and unemployment rate came in slightly worse than their respective forecasts, helping gold prices stabilize after recent string of heavy losses.
