Gold soared by the most since Britain’s Brexit vote in June as Donald Trump won the US presidency, prompting a rush to havens and a flight from risky assets.
Bullion jumped as much as 4.8 percent to $1,337.38 an ounce, the biggest intraday increase since June, and traded at $1,317.17 by 7:44 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The advance sent prices to the highest level since September and spurred gains in gold mining shares.
Volume was double the daily average, according to Comex data compiled by Bloomberg.
Trump is poised to enter the White House after winning a string of battleground states that pushed him over the 270 Electoral College vote threshold needed to become president-elect. Before the vote, most polls showed Hillary Clinton ahead and the reversal forced investors to adjust positions. The real estate magnate is seen as a riskier bet than his rival after he advocated ripping up trade deals and building a wall on the Mexican border.
“We have two trading floors, one in Geneva and one in Sydney, and phones are ringing non-stop,” said Bernard Sin, head of precious metals trading at MKS (Switzerland) SA by phone from Geneva. “Everyone is buying.”
Gold’s advance fueled a rally in related equities. Australia’s largest producer Newcrest Mining Ltd. rose as much as 11 percent in Sydney, while Zijin Mining Group Co. in Hong Kong climbed more than 7 percent.
Concern over Trump’s approach to free trade “is going to throw the global system into a bit of chaos,” which will support gold prices, said Mick Wilkes, chief executive officer of OceanaGold Corp., an Australian producer building a $380-million mine in South Carolina.