Gold climbs after Trump fires US attorney general
The price of gold climbed overnight, edged on by uncertainty after US President Donald Trump fired attorney general Sally Yates.
Global markets opened lower today, and safe haven assets such as gold and silver got a boost as investors looked for certainty.
The precious yellow metal was up 0.5 per cent to $1,202, while the spot price rose 0.37 per cent to hit $1,200.07, while silver went up 0.34 per cent to reach $17.21.
Yates was dismissed after she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to enforce Trump's immigration ban, the White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, said on Twitter.
Trump has since named Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace Yates, Spicer said.
Yates, an Obama administration holdover, said she was not convinced Trump's executive order barring travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations was lawful. Trump issued an order suspending the admission of refugees for four months, as well as banning visitors from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Analysts at City Index said today that if Trump clashes with the Federal Reserve, which is due to meet this week, gold could be in for another surge, alongside the yen and the Swiss franc.
"If he does dare to criticise any future Fed decisions then financial stability could be at risk," warned Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index Direct.