XAU USD news: Gold has hit a new record high - but silver is worth a look too

This morning, the gold price hit a new record high during the Asian trading session.

The precious metal rose to a spot price of almost $2450 in the early hours of Monday. The XAU USD price went from $2425.51 to almost $2441 in under 15 minutes at 1am, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Why has gold hit a new high?

The XAU USD price is known to be linked to geopolitical tensions, with rising conflict on the world stage often meaning that investors retreat to the ‘safe harbor’ gold is perceived as.

Tensions certainly arose over the weekend when it was reported that the helicopter carrying Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi had suffered a ‘hard landing’ – then was confirmed dead in the early hours of Monday morning.

Worryingly, the Iranian cabinet and media are referring to Raisi as having been ‘martyred’, leading many to fear the potential scapegoating of a nation, such as Israel or the US, for the incident.

The gold price, unsurprisingly, hit its new record high around the same time on early Monday morning that the remains of President Raisi’s chopper was found.

But silver is worth a look too

Trade Nation analyst David Morrison says that silver’s current bull run, though less spectacular than gold’s, may well have more stability and staying power.

Morrison said that the last major hurdle for the silver price was the $30 per ounce resistance level, which the metal has since cleared and is currently at a level of $32.05 to the USD. This, Morrison said “could set the scene for further gains”.