Gold prices sustained their upward swing for a second straight week, up more than 7% for the period.

• Gold XAUUSD is on track to notch a second-straight week of gains amid the ongoing clashes between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Prices of the yellow metal advanced to a two-month high above $1,980 per troy ounce, up 7.3% from two-weeks ago levels.

• Fueling bullion’s upside swing was Fed Chair Jay Powell’s speech on Thursday. At a conference in New York, the Federal Reserve boss noted policymakers are not planning to hike interest rates at their November meeting. Interest rates are now floating at 5% to 5.25% - levels unseen since the early 2000s.

• Gold, as a non-yielding asset, tends to perform better in geopolitical uncertainties, on the one hand. But also, when it’s not stacked up against assets that can generate relatively high passive yields like treasuries or cash deposits sitting in a high-rate environment.