Investing.com - Gold prices added to overnight gains in North American morning trade on Monday, hitting the strongest level since November as investors sought the perceived safety of the yellow metal amid growing concerns over political risks around the globe.
Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to a session peak of $1,232.20 a troy ounce, the most since November 11.
It was last at $1,230.95 by 8:40AM ET (13:40GMT), up $10.00, or around 0.8%.
Prices of the yellow metal climbed 2.4% last week, its best weekly gain in seven months.
Investors continued to pile in to gold as they eyed political risk elements, with President Donald Trump's administration on the back foot over its immigration and other policies.
In the euro zone, traders are monitoring developments in countries where anti-establishment movements are gaining traction ahead of elections.
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen unveiled a manifesto pledge to take her country out of the euro over the weekend, underscoring political risk in the world’s biggest single market.
Investors often buy gold as a refuge against economic and political uncertainty.
Meanwhile, market players pondered how the latest U.S. jobs report will affect the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes this year.
U.S. employers added 227,000 workers in January, the biggest gain in a month since September. However, unemployment edged up to 4.8% as more people looked for work, and the pace of wage growth slowed.
The weak wage growth was seen as weakening the case for near-term interest rate hikes.
Fed fund futures priced in a less than 10% chance of a rate hike in March, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool. However, odds of a June increase was seen at more than 60%.
Gold 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.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery rose 11.9 cents, or 0.7%, to $17.59 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, platinum tacked on 0.9% to $1,016.15, while palladium climbed 2.9% to $770.72 an ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper futures inched up 1.6 cents, or 0.6%, to $2.632 a pound.