Gold rose nearly three percent on Monday as tensions in the Middle East sparked a rally in oil prices and boosted interest in the precious metal as a haven from risk, while the dollar weakened sharply against the euro. Spot gold reached a session high of $889.55 an ounce, its strongest level since Oct 10, before easing to $883.70/885.70 at 1014 GMT from $866.80 in New York late on Friday. Geopolitical tensions increases interest in bullion as a safe haven investment, and are also a prime factor driving oil prices, which also influences gold, higher. The dollar weakened against the euro, helping to lift gold. A softer dollar typically supports gold, which is often bought as an alternative investment to the US currency. Silver gains: Among other precious metals, silver tracked gold higher to $10.90/10.98 an ounce from $10.64 an ounce late on Friday. Earlier it touched a one-week high of $11.01 an ounce. Platinum group metals also climbed, with platinum touching a session high of $931 an ounce, its strongest in 10 weeks. Later it was quoted at $919.50/924.50 an ounce against $888.50. Spot palladium was quoted at $181/186 an ounce, up nearly five percent from $174.50 in New York late on Friday. Copper rises on higher oil, weaker dollar: Copper rose more than four percent on Monday on higher oil prices and the weaker dollar but analysts expect the rally to be short lived because the outlook for the metal remains bleak as demand dwindles. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange rose 4.1 percent to a high of $2,940 a tonne from $2,825 at the close on Wednesday, the last trading session before the holidays. It traded at $2,880 a tonne in ring trading. Tin was trading at $9,750 a tonne from $9,850. Aluminium fell to $1,505.5 a tonne from $1,540, zinc was down at $1,140 from $1,144. Lead was last bid at $870, compared with $875.5 at the close on Wednesday, while nickel was last bid at $9,900 from $9,600.

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