Precious metals regain haven appeal amid unrest Gold and silver prices rose to their highest levels in several months as the precious metals regained some of their appeal as havens amid the threat of western military action in Syria. Gold prices touched a fresh three-month high of $1,433.31 a troy ounce while silver hit a four-month high of $25.08, although both metals had given up much of the day's gains by late afternoon in London. "The growing Middle East crisis has contributed to gold's renewed haven appeal," said analysts at Metals Focus, a consultancy. The increased likelihood of western military action in Syria has helped maintain a short-covering rally in gold and silver markets that has seen the metals move sharply higher in recent weeks. Hedge funds and other investors had built up large bets on lower prices earlier in the summer, believing that the US Federal Reserve's likely move to scale back its quantitative easing programme would have trigger a fall for the precious metals. But since their June lows gold and silver prices have risen 21.4 per cent and 37.9 per cent, respectively. The Syrian crisis has reawakened the precious metals" status as haven assets, with investors turning to them in order to protect their wealth from potential turmoil in the event of war in the Middle East. Moreover, they have benefited from the Syria-led rally in oil prices, with investors turning to gold and silver as an inflation hedge. "Gold and crude oil has a historical positive correlation and it tends to strengthen during periods of rising geopolitical tensions, most notably from the Middle East," said James Steel, precious metals analyst at HSBC. However, he warned that the rally may not last, with many investors remaining wary after gold's dramatic collapse in the first half of the year. "Unless things get worse - which they very well might do - the market has not got a reason to go higher," Mr Steel said. It's a wait-and-see attitude at the moment. Gold has also been supported by the possibility of strikes in South Africa's gold mining industry, the world's sixth-largest producer of the metal, where producers have been locked in negotiations with the National Union of Mineworkers. Metals Focus noted that the top five South African miners account for more than a third of its production, meaning that "even isolated strikes could have a significant impact on South African output."