Investing.com - Gold prices rallied more than 1% on Monday, as fresh tensions over hostilities in eastern Ukraine underpinned safe haven demand.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for June delivery jumped 1.16%, or $15.00, to trade at $1,302.60 a troy ounce, during U.S. morning hours. Gold hit a session high of $1,303.90 an ounce earlier in the day, the most since May 7.
Gold prices were likely to find support at $1,272.00 an ounce, the low from May 2 and resistance at $1,315.00, the high from May 7.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery surged 2.6%, or 49.7 cents, to trade at $19.61 a troy ounce, the highest level since May 7.
Pro-Russian separatists claimed victory in a weekend referendum on self-rule in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, fuelling fears that the country is sliding closer to civil war. The vote has been condemned by Ukraine’s government and the West.
Gold, seen as a safe haven investment, usually benefits from geopolitical turmoil.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for July delivery rallied 2.05%, or 6.3 cents, to trade at a ten-week high of $3.146 a pound amid indications China’s government will introduce measures to deepen reforms of the nation’s capital markets.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.