Gold rose by about 2 percent in early trading on Monday, and other precious metals also jumped after the United States arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, escalating geopolitical tensions and boosting demand for safe-haven assets.
Price update
By 0119 GMT, spot gold had risen by about 1.5 percent to $4,395.35 an ounce, its highest level in more than a week. The precious metal hit a record high of $4,549.71 an ounce on December 26, 2025.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery rose 1.8 percent to $4,405.40, according to Reuters.
Gold made a significant rise in 2025, ending the year up 64 percent, its biggest annual gain since 1979, driven by interest rate cuts, demand for a safe haven and inflows into exchange-traded funds.
Investors currently expect the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) to cut interest rates at least twice this year.
The United States arrested Maduro last Saturday in an operation that reportedly killed civilians, while US President Donald Trump said Washington would take control of the country.
However, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez assumed the role of interim president with the support of Venezuela's Supreme Court, and said that Maduro was still the country's president.
Non-yielding assets such as gold tend to perform well in low interest rate environments and during times of geopolitical or economic uncertainty.
As for other precious metals, silver rose 4.5 percent in spot trading to $75.86 an ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $83.62 on December 29. Silver ended the year up 147 percent, far outperforming gold, in its best year ever.
Silver has risen to new record highs thanks to its classification as a vital US metal and supply constraints amid rising industrial and investment demand.
Platinum rose 1.5 percent in spot trading to $2,175.15 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $2,478.50 on Monday. It had earlier gained more than 5 percent to a one-week high.
Palladium rose 0.4 percent to $1,645.0 an ounce.
