Gold Hits Highest Since 2013 as Goldman Backs Bullion in Crisis

BLOOMBERG/YAHOO FINANCE"Gold surged to its highest since 2013 as rising tensions in the Middle East stoked demand for havens, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. seeing more room to run. Bullion neared $1,600 an ounce after Tehran said it would no longer abide by any limits on its enrichment of uranium following the killing of General Qassem Soleimani. President Donald Trump said he's prepared to strike Iran 'in a disproportionate manner' if it retaliates against any U.S. target. Gold may prove a better bet than oil amid rising tensions, according to Goldman analysts. 'History shows that under most outcomes gold will likely rally to well beyond current levels,' analysts including Jeffrey Currie and Damien Courvalin said in a note. That's 'consistent with our previous research, which shows that being long gold is a better hedge to such geopolitical risks.'....Bullion is building on the largest annual climb since 2010, which was driven by the U.S.-China trade war's drag on global growth, easier monetary policy across the world's leading economies and sustained buying from exchange-traded funds and central banks. 'Negative real rates in the U.S. and a weaker U.S. dollar favor stronger precious metal prices in general,' said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS Wealth Management. 'Thus, we see value in staying long the metal.'"