Gold surges for a second day as investors seek Brexit havens

[SINGAPORE] Gold jumped a second day as shock waves continued to reverberate through financial markets following the UK's vote to exit the European Union, boosting demand for haven assets.

Bullion for immediate delivery advanced as much as 1.5 per cent to US$1,335.55 an ounce before trading at US$1,330.95 at 8:14 am in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.

The metal was propelled as high as US$1,358.54 on Friday to a level not seen since March 2014, and the 8.1 per cent gain was the biggest intraday jump since 2008.

Gold is up 25 per cent this year as investors flock to haven assets after the fallout from the Brexit vote caused the pound to sink to the weakest level in more than three decades and global stocks tumbled.

Prices could reach as high as US$1,424 an ounce by the end of the year, according to the median of 12 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of analysts and traders from New York to London conducted on Friday. That would be the highest since August 2013.

BLOOMBERG