Gold continues its horizontal trend near record levels

Gold held steady near a record high on Monday as Iran’s attack on Israel accelerated a rally that has been building since mid-February. Bullion held on to a 1.7% gain from the previous session as attention turned to a potential counterattack that risks setting off an all-out war between the two Middle East powers. Israeli military officials reiterated that they had no choice but to respond, while the U.S. and Europe urged restraint. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, rose more than a quarter on Friday and Monday to its highest level since late October. Anxiety over when the Fed will cut interest rates has receded, further fueling gold’s rally. The precious metal was instead supported by other long-standing supports, including strong buying by central banks, rising demand from Chinese consumers and rising geopolitical risks. Citigroup said in a note that it raised its 2024 gold forecast to $2,350 an ounce and made a “major 40% revision” to its 2025 gold forecast to $2,875. That came after Goldman Sachs said on Friday that the metal was in an “unwavering bull market” and raised its year-end forecast to $2,700. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,384.75 an ounce as of 9:03 a.m. in Singapore, not far from its all-time high of $2,431.52 reached on Friday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% after rising 1.3% last week, the most since 2022. Silver was flat, while platinum and palladium fell.