Gold futures hovered at their best levels in about two years Monday in the wake of the U.K.’s historic and market-rattling decision to exit from the European Union.
“Gold prices are higher and continue to get a safe-haven bid in early U.S. trading Monday, as world stock, currency and financial markets are still on shaky ground,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst commodity broker Kitco.
August gold GCQ6, +0.54% rose $9.30, or 0.7%, to $1,332.30 an ounce. Friday’s close at $1,322.40 marked the largest single-session dollar and percentage climb since September 2013. And the settlement price was highest since July 11, 2014, according to FactSet data.
For last week, gold was up just over 2% even though it spent most trading sessions leading up to the Brexit vote in selling mode as “remain” sentiment was believed to have gained ground.
The surprise outcome continued to spill across global markets. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said ahead of Thursday’s landmark referendum that a Brexit was one of the risks facing the global economy that could justify a cautious approach to raising interest rates. Higher rates tend to be gold-negative as precious-metals holders forfeit yield in a rising-rate environment.
