Investing.com - Gold prices held onto modest gains on Monday, hovering close to a nearly one-year high, as geopolitical tensions continued to support demand for safe-haven assets.
Comex gold futures were up around $2.02, or about 0.16%, to $1,293.62 a troy ounce by 08:30 a.m. ET (12:30 a.m. GMT), not far from a nearly one-year high of $1,306,90 reached on Friday.
The precious metal remained supported after a terrorist attack last Thursday in Barcelona killed 14 people and injured 100 others.
Spanish police was still searching on Sunday for the man behind the wheel in the Barcelona van attack, amid growing signs members of the militant group had connections elsewhere in Europe.
Separately, North Korea warned Sunday that joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises set to start Monday will be "adding fuel to the fire" of already heightened tensions with Washington and its allies.
Gold prices also benefited from a weaker greenback following news on Friday that senior White House advisor Steven Bannon had been fired.
Ongoing uncertainty over the economic agenda of U.S. President Donald Trump and doubts that the Federal Reserve will deliver a third rate hike this year have fed into recent dollar weakness.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was lmost unchanged at 93.31.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures rose 0.4 cents, or around 0.26%, to $17.04 a troy ounce.