Gold prices surged on Monday after the U.S. and Israel launched major strikes on Iran, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, deepening global economic uncertainty and sparking safe-haven demand.  Spot gold was up 2.41% at $5,404 an ounce in London, after hitting its highest point in more than four weeks.  Israel launched another new wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday and Iran retaliated by launching more missiles and drones, a day after the death of Khamenei sent the Middle East and the global economy into deepening volatility. “Unlike previous escalations in this conflict, there is fairly strong incentive here for both sides to continue to escalate potentially - and that runs the risk of leading to a pretty chaotic, uncertain and therefore volatile environment for more than just a few days ... the dynamic for gold is pretty positive” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. Bullion, a traditional safe-haven asset, had repeatedly hit record highs in 2026 due to mounted geopolitical and economic uncertainty. The latest gold price rally builds on a 64% jump in 2025, driven by strong central bank buying, constant inflows into exchange-traded funds and predictions of U.S. monetary policy easing. Last week, investment banks, including J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, projected that gold prices could surge toward the $6,000 per ounce mark by the end of 2026. J.P. Morgan forecasted enough demand from central banks and investors this year to ultimately push prices to $6,300 by the end of 2026. “Gold is perhaps the finest barometer to reflect global uncertainty and, to mix metaphors, the mercury is rising. We should expect gold to be repriced higher to fresh records as we enter a whole new era of geopolitical uncertainty,” said independent analyst Ross Norman. Data relesed on Friday indicated that U.S. producer prices hiked more than expected in January, suggesting inflation could pick up in coming months. Spot silver rose 1.78% to $95.49 an ounce after registering a monthly gain in February. Spot platinum increased 0.5% to $2,376.65 an ounce, while palladium advanced 1.4% to $1,811.02 per ounce.