Gold futures climbed sharply in electronic trading Friday, with prices for the most-active contract touching their highest intraday levels since May. Developments in the Israel-Hamas war sparked a fresh rush to safety among investors. The Israeli army increased its air attacks in Gaza and its ground forces are “expanding their activity” in the Gaza Strip, CNBC reported Friday. News that Israel was expanding its ground incursion into Gaza “launched gold higher in afternoon trading,” said Brien Lundin, editor at Gold Newsletter. “As we saw early on in the crisis, investors don’t want to go into the weekend, and closed markets, without owning gold.” December gold
GCZ23,
was at $2,016.40 an ounce in electronic trading, after trading as high as $2,017.20. That was the highest intraday level for a most-active contract since May 16, FactSet data show. Prices settled at $1,998.50, up $1.10, or nearly 0.1% on Comex Friday.
