The Associated Press
Gold prices rose for the sixth straight day on Wednesday as violence in Iraq drew traders to the precious metal.
Gold for August delivery rose $1.30 to settle at $1,322.60 an ounce on Wednesday.
The price of gold has climbed 6 percent so far this month as an insurgent group in Iraq pushes closer to Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi officials confirmed Wednesday that Syrian warplanes bombed the militants’ positions inside Iraq’s border this week.
“The violence is definitely having an impact on the market,” said Phil Streible, senior commodity broker at RJ O’Brien & Associates in Chicago.
Traders often shift money into gold in anticipation of a crisis. In March, gold prices hit a high point for the year on concerns over a territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
Other metals traded higher Wednesday. Silver for July rose 7 cents to $21.12 an ounce. Copper for July rose 2 cents to $3.17 a pound.
Platinum for July rose $1.30 to $1,473.20 an ounce, while palladium for September rose $2.85 to $833.25 an ounce.
Prices for grains and beans ended mixed. Wheat rose 4 cents to $5.84 a bushel. Corn slipped a penny to $4.40 a bushel, while soybeans rose 5 cents to $12.29 a bushel.
In the market for oil and gas, benchmark U.S. crude rose 47 cents to $106.50 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:
— Wholesale gasoline slipped 3 cents to $3.09 a gallon.
— Heating oil fell one penny to $3.03 a gallon.
— Natural gas rose two cents to $4.55 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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