Gold futures rose more than 1% Monday, with investors seeking a safe haven as Israeli air strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip continued for a third day. In thin trading, gold for February delivery rose $12.10, or 1.4%, to $883.30 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, gold futures soared to an intraday high of $892 an ounce, which was the precious metal's highest level since Oct. 9. "Bullion found a safe-haven bid during Monday's session in response to the acceleration in violence between Israel and Hamas," said analysts at Action Economics. On Friday, gold futures rose $23.20, or 2.7%, at $871.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This year, gold futures have gained more than 5%. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli air strikes aimed at targets linked to militant group Hamas continued for a third day, the BBC reported on Monday. Hamas said 300 Palestinians have died since Saturday, while the United Nations said that 56 civilians are dead, according to the report. In Israel, a second person was killed by a militant rocket, the report said. Read more. Oil futures also rallied on the escalation in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $2.39, or 6.3%, to $40.07 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. See Futures Movers. "Aside from geopolitics, gold and oil are also boosted by a return to broadening U.S. dollar weakness, especially in the aftermath of last week's jobless claims and personal consumption reports," said Ashraf Laidi, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, in a research note. The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against other major currencies Monday. The euro rallied 1.9% against the dollar to $1.4280, while the dollar fell 0.6% against the Japanese yen to 90.24 yen. See Currencies. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major counterparts, stood at 80.01 compared with 80.91 in late North American trading on Friday. Dollar weakness typically boosts dollar-denominated commodities such as gold and oil. Also on Globex Monday, March silver futures rallied 56 cents, or 5%, to $11.09 an ounce. January platinum futures rose $17.70, or 2%, to $907.90 an ounce and March palladium futures gained $8.90, or 5%, to $184.90 an ounce. March copper futures gained 2 cents, or 1.2%, to $1.32 a pound. The SPDR Gold Trust , the largest exchange-traded gold fund, rose 1.2%. The Amex Gold Bugs Index , which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, gained 4.1%.

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