via Investing.com - Gold prices rose to their highest level in around a year on Tuesday, as demand for safe-haven assets remained strong in the wake of North Korea's most powerful nuclear test to date.
Geopolitical risks tend to boost demand for safe havens such as gold, which is considered a good store of value during volatility in other markets.
Comex gold futures jumped $10.30, or around 0.8%, to $1,340.77 a troy ounce by 2:50AM ET (0650GMT), after touching its best level since September 27, 2016 at $1,345.50 earlier.
The yellow metal did not officially "settle"on Monday due to the U.S. Labor Day holiday.
Gold 60 Minute Spot as of this writing
live interactive charts HERE for Gold and Silver.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures tacked on 14.7 cents, or about 0.8%, to $17.96 a troy ounce. It rose to $18.03 earlier, the most since April 25.
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date on Sunday, which it said was a successful detonation of an advanced hydrogen bomb.
Adding to concern on the Korean peninsula, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Pyongyang is making preparations for the possible launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile. Many experts have been preparing for a weapons test around September 9, when North Korea marks the anniversary of its foundation in 1948.
In response, the U.S. told the United Nations on Monday that Pyongyang was "begging for war," before urging the 15-member Security Council to respond with the "strongest possible measures" against the isolated regime.
The escalating tensions prompted investors to dump assets seen as riskier, such as stocks and high yielding currencies, and flock to traditional safe-haven assets like the yen, sovereign bonds and bullion.
Among other precious metals, platinum added 0.3% to $1,012.20, while palladium held steady at $976.90 an ounce.
Meanwhile, copper futures rallied 5.6 cents, or roughly 1.8%, to a more than three-year high of $3.176 a pound, boosted by growing confidence in the global economy. Yet Dr. Copper's PhD is in question.
Tensions between North Korea and the U.S. are on the rise again, as China bans initial coin offerings, and it's a big week in central-bank speak.
Golden Drivers
Fed Speakers on Parade
Investors are gearing up for a busy week filled with monetary pronouncements and economic data, with voting Federal Reserve officials Lael Brainard, Neel Kashkari, Robert Kaplan, and Bill Dudley hitting the stage on the heels of Friday's weak jobs report. U.S. durable-goods figures, trade-balance data, and the release of the Fed’s Beige Book will shed light on the economic trajectory, after a purchasing managers' index indicated the euro area is poised for the fastest expansion in a decade. The Reserve Bank of Australia left benchmark interest rates unchanged at a record low of 1.5 percent for the thirteenth month running, as expected. Later this week, Mario Draghi may offer clues on European Central Bank plans to pare its bond-buying program after an interest-rate decision on Thursday.
Korea crisis
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to back billions of dollars in new weapons sales to South Korea after North Korea’s largest nuclear test, while in a push for harsher sanctions his ambassador to the United Nations said Kim Jong Un’s regime is “begging for war.” Hours later, the Seoul-based Asia Business Daily reported that Pyongyang was preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile before Saturday. Japan plans to evacuate about 60,000 of its citizens in South Korea if the U.S. decides to strike the rogue nation, regardless of whether plans are made public, Nikkei reported, citing an unnamed government source. Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected U.S. calls for new sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday. Geopolitical strife is just one event risk facing global investors this September -- the cruelest month for U.S. equities -- with hawkish central-bank chatter and U.S. fiscal brinkmanship also looming.
Markets rise... not so much
European stocks rebounded after a mixed Asia session, as data from China to the euro area signaled the global recovery remains intact. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1 percent to $47.78 a barrel and copper extended its rally to a three-year high. Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 0.27 percent at 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time. Don't tell that to the US markets though. They've maintained their weakness as well as gold has held its rally
In Other News
China vs. Paris Hilton
China declared initial coin offerings illegal with immediate effect on Monday, stopping in its tracks a key fundraising vehicle for digital token sales, worth at least $1.25 billion this year. Bitcoin fell as low as $4,098, 16 percent below Friday's close, before paring losses, as investors and speculators mulled the biggest regulatory challenge so far to the burgeoning digital-currency market. Meanwhile, Paris Hilton, the celebrity famous for being famous, jumped on the ICO bandwagon by taking to Twitter to back a new currency called Lydian. The move underscores the craze for the financing mechanism that raises money directly from the public.
Aerospace giant
United Technologies Corp. will buy Rockwell Collins Inc. for about $23 billion in one of the biggest aviation deals ever. The resulting aircraft-parts giant will be better positioned to withstand competition from planemakers Boeing Co. and Airbus SE amid a slew of pricing discounts and output growth. The fragmented nature of the industry suggests the deal will receive the regulatory greenlight, analysts say. Rockwell shareholders will receive $140 a share in cash and stock, an 18 percent premium to the Aug. 4 close, before Bloomberg News reported on deal talks. Rockwell shares last traded at $130.61.
Circle back for morning research round up in a few
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