Gold rose more than 1 percent to an all-time high on Tuesday above $1,432 an ounce as chaos in Libya and political turmoil in the Arab world prompted safe-haven buying and soaring oil prices boosted bullion's inflation hedge appeal. Spot gold rallied to a record of $1,432.10 an ounce, surpassing its previous record of $1,430.95 set on December 7.
The metal gained 1.4 percent to $1,430.69 an ounce by 2:50 pm EST (1950 GMT), its largest one-day gain since January. US April gold futures settled up 1.5 percent at $1,431.2 an ounce, with volume about 10 percent lower than its 30-day average and in line with lower-than-usual recent turnover.
Bullion rose 6 percent in February, its largest monthly rise since August. It traded mostly sideways last week, then gained on Tuesday on resurgent safe-haven bids. Silver hit a fresh 31-year high at $34.59 an ounce and later climbed 2 percent to $34.46. Silver has risen about 11 percent this year. Platinum gained 1.8 percent to $1,837 an ounce, while palladium climbed 2.5 percent to $814.22 an ounce.