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Gold futures jumped Friday on haven-related buying after a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian military commander, stoking fears of an escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Gold for February delivery GCG20, +1.35% on Comex was $19.50 or 1.3% higher at $1,547.60 an ounce, after trading as high as $1,554 an ounce — a level last seen in early September. March silver SIH20, +0.49% was 10.9 cents higher, a gain of 0.6%, at $18.155 an ounce.
Gold and other haven assets were boosted, while oil prices jumped and global stocks came under pressure following a U.S. airstrike at Baghdad’s airport killed Qassem Soleimani, leader of the foreign wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMH20, -0.71% trimmed earlier losses but remained down by around 250 points a day after major U.S. stock indexes scored a new round of records.
Heightened geopolitical tensions threatened to destroy the risk-on sentiment that’s been driving the markets since December after the United States launched air strikes in Iraq, killing top Iranian military officials,” said Raffi Boyadjian, senior investment analyst at XM, in a note.
The Pentagon said President Donald Trump ordered the strike in a defensive action, alleging that Soleimani had planned to direct attacks on U.S. diplomats and service members in the region. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared three days of mourning for Soleimani’s death and said that a “hard revenge awaits criminals.”
Read: Who was Qassem Soleimani, and why is his death a major development in U.S.-Middle East relations?
In other metals trading, April platinum PLJ20, +0.88% rose $5.60, or 0.6%, to $990.60 an ounce, while March palladium PAH20, +1.02% gained $11.50, or 0.6%, to $1,939.50 an ounce.
March copper HGH20, -1.08% fell 4.1 cents, or 1.5%, to $2.784 a pound.
