(Bloomberg) — Gold surged to its highest since 2013 as rising tensions in the Middle East stoked demand for havens, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. seeing more room to run. Palladium extended gains to a fresh record.Bullion neared $1,600 an ounce after Tehran said it would no longer abide by any limits on its enrichment of uranium following the killing of General Qassem Soleimani. President Donald Trump said he’s prepared to strike Iran “in a disproportionate manner” if it retaliates against any U.S. target. Gold may prove a better bet than oil amid rising tensions, according to Goldman analysts. “History shows that under most outcomes gold will likely rally to well beyond current levels,” analysts including Jeffrey Currie and Damien Courvalin said in a note. That’s “consistent with our previous research, which shows that being long gold is a better hedge to such geopolitical risks.” Spot gold climbed as much as 2.3% to $1,588.13 an ounce on Monday, the highest level since April 2013, and traded at $1,577.83 at 11:10 a.m. in London. Prices could reach $1,600 if tensions escalate further, according to UBS Group AG and ABN Amro Bank NV. The recent rally has brought the metal to its most overbought level in two decades, with spot gold’s relative strength index at 87 on Monday. While further escalation could trigger more upside in prices, the rally risks running out of steam as liquidity returns to the market after the New Year break, said ABN Amro strategist Georgette Boele. “Investors came back from holidays and experienced a $100 higher gold price compared to when they left,” she said. “Some have bought it in a kind of panic way, while others who already hold gold will probably wait and see.” Bullion is building on the largest annual climb since 2010, which was driven by the U.S.-China trade war’s drag on global growth, easier monetary policy across the world’s leading economies and sustained buying from exchange-traded funds and central banks. “Negative real rates in the U.S. and a weaker U.S. dollar favor stronger precious metal prices in general,” said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS Wealth Management. “Thus, we see value in staying long the metal.” The Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates within the next six months, which will in turn probably keep a cap on the U.S. dollar — both of which are “extremely positive” for gold, said Gavin Wendt, senior resource analyst at MineLife Pty in Sydney. Nick Note: I posted this BULLSHIT article. UBS BOLD prediction is Gold trading according to them at $1577 is going to go to $1600……. I marked it in red above… What assholes gold is due for anoter crash in my opni and i do not mean a ha ha ha $23 rally. I mean a at least $100 drop and it will not take a long time.