Energy & Precious Metals – Weekly Review and Calendar Ahead – Investing.com India

Energy & Precious Metals – Weekly Review and Calendar Ahead – Investing.com India

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com — Is gold on the way to $1,800 an ounce? 

And will it continue advancing from there?

Those questions are probably on everyone's mind after gold futures on Comex and the spot price of bullion both hit 7-week highs above $1,780 on Friday. 

Gold's resurgence came as U.S. bond yields plunged amid a hike in consumer prices that reasserted the yellow metal's diminished role as a hedge against inflation.

Sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia imposed by the United States on Thursday also brought gold back — in the eyes of some, at least — as a protection against political risk. The last time gold prices reacted to a geopolitical situation was during the January 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top general, who was killed in a U.S. strike ordered by Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

The breakout of the Covid-19 after the Soleimani assassination whittled down international conflicts to almost zero for the rest of 2020, until the November killing of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh — again, an Iranian — in a hit linked to Israeli forces. That incident barely made a ripple on the gold market. 

With President Joseph Biden taking office in January, new U.S.-Russia rumblings have begun and tensions have