LONDON: Gold rose on Monday as political uncertainty after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union supported prices that had been propelled towards last week’s two-year high by an overnight burst of short-covering activity in China.

The precious metal reached a peak of $1,357.60 an ounce overnight, less than $1 below last month’s high, before easing back below $1,350 an ou­n­ce. Silver benefited from a sur­ge of buying in China, rising more than 7 per cent at one point and breaking above $21 an ounce for the first time in two years.

The metal has also benefited from strong technical signals. Spot gold was up 0.7pc at $1,350.87 an ounce by 1520 GMT, while US gold futures for August delivery gained 1.1pc to $1,353.70.

Silver was up 2.9pc at $20.30 an ounce, benefiting from a perce­ption that it offers good value compared with gold. Plat­i­num was up 0.1pc at $1,059.75 an ounce, while palladium rose 1.5pc to $613.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2016