WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices surged on Monday amid heightened geopolitical tensions and bets of a Federal Reserve rate cut later this month.
The upswing was also buoyed by China's central bank resuming gold purchases after a six-month pause.
Spot gold rose about 1 percent to $2,658.11 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.8 percent at $2,679.89.
In geopolitical news, the anti-government rebels on Sunday announced full control of Homs, the third main city in the nation, and the capital Damascus after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country, ending a fifty-year regime.
Russian media reported that the ousted President had been granted asylum in Moscow on humanitarian grounds.
The dollar was marginally lower after new data suggested the U.S. job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. A U.S. CPI print due this week could affect the outlook for further easing.
Traders currently price in an 87 percent chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut at next week's Fed meeting, up from 61.6 percent last week, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
The European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday for the last time in 2024 and economists overwhelmingly expect another 25-basis-point rate cut.
Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China resumed buying gold for its reserves in November after a six-month pause, official data by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) showed on Saturday. China's central bank was the world's largest official sector buyer of gold in 2023.
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