“North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.,” the tweet said.

Gold futures reached as high as US$1277.40 an ounce and last traded at around $1276/oz.

Spot gold was at just under $1275/oz or A$1700/oz.

American Precious Metals Advisors managing director Jeffrey Nichols said while geopolitical concerns fuelled a breakout, the magnitude of the move had much to do with gold market fundamentals.

“In particular, as we have frequently pointed out, there has been a massive shift in gold ownership from Western markets to Asian markets (particularly China and India),” he said.

“Asian investors buying small bars and investment-trade jewellery are mostly long-term hoarders who are likely to hold on to their precious-metals purchases for decades, if not longer, passing ownership from generation to generation.

“We think the news — both economic and political — will continue to favour the long side of the market — with gold more likely than not to ratchet up into a higher and wider trading range in the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, the Metal Bulletin iron ore spot price lost another 0.4% to US$74.38 per tonne, while base metals were lower.

Nickel dropped 3.3%, despite a drop in LME stockpiles, while zinc fell by 1.8% to a three-month low.

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