* Gold prices reach highest since early January
* Unrest spreads across Middle East, North Africa
* Gold:silver ratio slips to lowest since 1998
(Updates prices paras 3-4; )
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices jumped above $1,400
an ounce on Monday for the first time in nearly seven weeks as
violence flared in north Africa and the Middle East, raising
interest in the precious metal as a haven from risk.
Bullion has risen 3.5 percent over six days of gains, its
longest winning streak since August, as protests that have
unseated leaders in Egypt and Tunisia spread to neighbouring
states, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic
leaders elsewhere. []
Spot gold <XAU=> rose as high as $1,408.20 an ounce and was
bid at $1,405.23 an ounce at 1900 GMT, up 1.2 percent or $16.65
an ounce and within some $25 of an all-time high. Prices have
risen from an almost four-month low of $1,300 in late January.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ1> rose $18.40 an
ounce to $1,407.10, with trading volume about one-third the
30-day average due to the Presidents' Day U.S. holiday.
"The unrest and the fear in these countries is increasing,"
said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT Capital Management in
Switzerland. "These uncertainties on the geopolitical risk side
are driving the gold market."
"See how easily gold broke $1,390, $1,395, which were
strong resistance levels, and now the $1,400 psychological
level," he said. "It seems nobody is looking for lower gold
prices."
Other safe-haven assets also rose, with bund futures up and
the Swiss franc gaining against the dollar and the euro. []
[] Brent oil prices meanwhile surged above $105 a barrel
for the first time since 2008 as the turmoil hit oil supplies
while European shares slipped. [] []
Silver <XAG=> jumped 4.3 percent to $33.85, hitting its
highest since the Hunt Brothers surge 31 years ago and widening
the gold ratio -- the number of ounces needed to buy an ounce
of gold dropping -- to around 42, a near 13-year low.
VIOLENCE HITS TRIPOLI
Dozens of people were reported killed in Tripoli as
anti-government protests reached the Libyan capital for the
first time. []
The Libyan uprising is one of a series of revolts that have
spread across the Arab world since December, threatening
entrenched dynasties from Bahrain to Yemen.
The protests have pushed gold higher even as interest in
investment products like exchange-traded funds stayed soft.
Holdings of the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund,
New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, fell to a nine-month low on
Friday at 1,223.1 tonnes, data from the fund showed.
[]
"If (buying) is not through the exchange-traded funds or a
clear change in the net long on Comex, it is most likely to be
through the physical market -- coin and small bar buying," said
Daniel Major, an analyst at RBS Global Banking & Markets.
"I potentially wouldn't rule out larger purchases by high
net worth individuals on the back of the unrest we're seeing."
OTHERS RISE TOO
Gold priced in euros <XAUEUR=R> hit its highest since Jan.
18 at 1,029.92 euros an ounce, and sterling-priced gold
<XAUGBP=R> its highest since Jan. 14 at 868.06 pounds an
ounce.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,846.45 an ounce against
$1,833.50, while palladium <XPD=> peaked at $859.50 and was
later at $853.88 against $848.25.
But silver led the way, jumping more than 10 percent in
three days, its biggest such rally since early November.
"We expect the combination of continued strength in
investment demand and a sustained industrial demand recovery
will support silver... this year before easing amid improved
economic conditions in 2012," said Morgan Stanley in a note.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; editing by Anthony Barker and Andrew
Hay)
