Investing.com - Gold prices rose for the seventh consecutive session on Thursday to hit the highest level in almost four weeks after Saudi Arabia began a military operation in Yemen, while the U.S. dollar extended its recent slide.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery touched an intraday peak of $1,219.00 a troy ounce, the most since March 2, before trading at $1,210.40 during U.S. morning hours, up $13.40, or 1.12%.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,178.60, the low from March 23, and resistance at $1,223.00, the high from March 2. A day earlier, gold tacked on $5.60, or 0.47%, to close at $1,197.00, the sixth consecutive daily gain.
Meanwhile, silver futures for May delivery climbed 18.2 cents, or 1.07%, to trade at $17.18 a troy ounce, after hitting a daily high of $17.38, the most since February 16.
Demand for safe-haven assets was boosted after Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Gulf region allies launched air strikes in Yemen to counter Iran-backed Houthi rebels besieging the southern city of Aden.
Global oil prices spiked more than three dollars on the news. There are fears that an escalation of hostilities could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing.
Countries in the Middle East were responsible for nearly 35% of global oil production last year.
Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.4% to 96.69 early on Thursday. The index is down more than 4% since hitting a 12-year high of 100.78 on March 13.
The U.S. Department of Labor said earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 9,000 last week to hit a five-week low of 282,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 1,000 to 290,000 last week.
Despite the better than expected report, the greenback remained under pressure as a recent soft patch of U.S. economic data added to uncertainty over the timing of a future interest rate hike.
Gold fell to a four-month low of $1,141.60 on March 17 amid concerns that the Fed will start raising rates as early as in June, before rallying more than 5% after the Federal Reserve projected a slower pace of rate hikes.
A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper for May delivery tacked on 4.6 cents, or 1.65%, to trade at $2.838 a pound.
Comex copper prices have been well-supported in recent sessions amid speculation demand for the industrial metal will increase due to accommodative central bank policies in the U.S., Europe and China.