Gold jumps 1 percent, over $1,400 on Mideast violence

By Jan Harvey

LONDON | Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:36pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices jumped above $1,400 an ounce on Monday for the first time in nearly seven weeks as violence flared in north Africa and the Middle East, raising interest in the precious metal as a haven from risk.

Bullion has risen 3.5 percent over six days of gains, its longest winning streak since August, as protests that have unseated leaders in Egypt and Tunisia spread to neighboring states, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders elsewhere.

Spot gold rose as high as $1,408.20 an ounce and was bid at $1,405.23 an ounce at 1900 GMT, up 1.2 percent or $16.65 an ounce and within some $25 of an all-time high. Prices have risen from an almost four-month low of $1,300 in late January.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose $18.40 an ounce to $1,407.10, with trading volume about one-third the 30-day average due to the Presidents' Day U.S. holiday.



"The unrest and the fear in these countries is increasing," said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT Capital Management in Switzerland. "These uncertainties on the geopolitical risk side are driving the gold market."

"See how easily gold broke $1,390, $1,395, which were strong resistance levels, and now the $1,400 psychological level," he said. "It seems nobody is looking for lower gold prices."



Other safe-haven assets also rose, with bund futures up and the Swiss franc gaining against the dollar and the euro. Brent oil prices meanwhile surged above $105 a barrel for the first time since 2008 as the turmoil hit oil supplies while European shares slipped.

Silver jumped 4.3 percent to $33.85, hitting its highest since the Hunt Brothers surge 31 years ago and widening the gold ratio -- the number of ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold dropping -- to around 42, a near 13-year low.



VIOLENCE HITS TRIPOLI

Dozens of people were reported killed in Tripoli as anti-government protests reached the Libyan capital for the first time.



The Libyan uprising is one of a series of revolts that have spread across the Arab world since December, threatening entrenched dynasties from Bahrain to Yemen.

The protests have pushed gold higher even as interest in investment products like exchange-traded funds stayed soft.

Holdings of the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust, fell to a nine-month low on Friday at 1,223.1 tones, data from the fund showed.

"If (buying) is not through the exchange-traded funds or a clear change in the net long on Comex, it is most likely to be through the physical market -- coin and small bar buying," said Daniel Major, an analyst at RBS Global Banking & Markets.

"I potentially wouldn't rule out larger purchases by high net worth individuals on the back of the unrest we're seeing."