· Gold prices shot up on Monday to their highest levels in close to a year as investors bought safe-haven assets on worries that North Korea might launch more missiles after its sixth and largest nuclear test.
· Spot gold was up 0.72 percent at $1,334.10 an ounce by 1337 EDT (1737) GMT, having touched its strongest level since late September at $1,339.47.
· U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.68 percent at $1,339.20.
· South Korea said on Monday it was talking to the United States about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula after signs that North Korea might launch more missiles.
· A weaker dollar also underpinned gold, which is likely to continue its upward momentum in the coming days, said Tom Kendall, head of precious metals strategy at ICBC Standard Bank.
· "We've got the geopolitics and we've also got a fairly benign interest rate environment. There's still nothing threatening coming out of the Fed," he said, referring to the U.S. central bank.
A key target for spot gold was around $1,375, the high reached after last year's Brexit vote, Kendall added.
"If you've got a momentum-type trading model, things have been pretty good," he said. "It's not looking overextended or overbought just yet, so I think we can definitely get up to that $1,375 level."
· Stephanie Aymes, head of technical analysis at Societe Generale, pegged another key level for gold at $1,350/$1,356, based on a multi-year "inverse head-and-shoulders" formation.
"This will be a major hurdle to be watched out for," she said in a note.
· Silver rose 1.11 percent to $17.88 an ounce, having hit its highest level since late April at $17.90.
· Platinum gained 0.2 percent to $1,006.50. It had previously marked its highest price since early March at $1,014.70.
· Palladium dipped 0.41 percent to $976.50 after touching $1,001, its highest price since February 2001.
Reference: Reuters
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