NEM, KGC, B: Gold’s Price Leaps as Middle East Tensions Flare

The spot price of gold has jumped to its highest level in over a month on reports that Israel has attacked nuclear and military sites in Iran.

The price of gold has risen nearly 2% in the past 12 hours to $3,443.50 an ounce and is now above the $3,400 mark for the first time since early May. The upward momentum in gold prices is good news for miners of the precious metal such as Barrick Mining (B), Newmont (NEM), and Kinross Gold (KGC).

The latest rally comes amid renewed geopolitical concerns as tensions flare in the Middle East. Iran has reportedly responded by launching a drone attack on Israel. Some media outlets are raising the prospect of all-out war between the two countries.

Safe-Haven Asset

Gold is widely viewed as a safe-haven asset and draws investor capital during times of market upheaval and geopolitical instability. Also underpinning gold’s price has been a cooler-than-expected inflation report out of the U.S. and expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold interest rates at current levels until September of this year.

Futures traders are now betting that there’s an 80% chance the U.S. central bank doesn’t lower interest rates until its September policy meeting. On the trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is willing to extend a July 8 deadline for completing trade talks with foreign countries before higher U.S. tariffs go into effect.

Gold is not far from its all-time high of just over $3,500 an ounce reached in April of this year.

GLD Performance

The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds physical gold and tracks the spot price movements of the precious metal. As one can see in the chart below, GLD has risen 11.43% in the last three months.