Gold prices rose on Tuesday to their highest level in a week after comments from Federal Reserve officials signaled possible monetary easing, boosting bets on interest rate cuts. Rising tensions linked to Venezuela also fueled demand for safe-haven assets.

Spot gold climbed 0.4% to $4,465.32 per ounce by 03:28 GMT, after jumping nearly 3% in the previous session. Gold hit an all-time high of $4,549.71 on December 26, ending the year up 64% - its strongest annual performance since 1979.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery rose 0.3% to $4,465.70.

Elijah Spivak, head of global macro at Tasty Live, said: “The Federal Reserve officials’ comments were certainly not damaging, but the calculations don’t seem to have changed much. Of course, we have a busy week with the jobs report coming out on Friday.”

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on Monday that inflation is slowing gradually, but warned of the risk of a sharper-than-expected rise in unemployment, increasing the likelihood of an interest rate cut.

Gold. (Archive)

Investors are currently pricing in at least two U.S. interest rate cuts this year, while awaiting the nonfarm payrolls report due Friday for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy path.

Geopolitical concerns also weighed on markets after ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to drug charges following his arrest, an event that raised concern among global leaders. The United States captured Maduro on Saturday in an operation that reportedly resulted in civilian casualties, while President Donald Trump said Washington would take charge in the South American nation.

Non-yielding assets such as gold tend to perform better during periods of falling interest rates and heightened geopolitical or economic uncertainty.

Among other precious metals, spot silver jumped 2.9% to $78.72 per ounce after reaching a record high of $83.62 on December 29. Platinum rose 2.5% to $2,327.17 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $2,478.50 last Monday, having earlier surged more than 5% during the session. Palladium gained 0.8% to $1,721.74 per ounce.