Jan 26 (Reuters) - Gold surged to a record high above $5,000 an ounce on Monday, extending a historic rally as investors piled into the safe-haven asset amid rising geopolitical tensions. Spot gold rose 0.75% to $5,019.85 per ounce by 2304 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery gained 0.84% to $5,020.60 per ounce. Escalating friction between the U.S. and NATO over Greenland has added fresh momentum to gold's advance this year on expectations of more financial and geopolitical uncertainty. "Our forecast for the year is that gold will see a high of $6,400 an ounce with an average of $5,375," independent analyst Ross Norman said. Gold soared 64% in 2025, underpinned by U.S. monetary policy easing, central bank demand - with China extending its gold-buying spree for a fourteenth month in December - and record inflows into exchange-traded-funds. Spot silver rose 2.52% to $105.54 per ounce. Spot platinum fell 0.03% to $2,766.30 per ounce, while spot palladium rose 0.31% to $2,016.25 per ounce. (Reporting by Anjana Anil and Kavya Balaraman in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Pablo Sinha; Editing by Diane Craft and Himani Sarkar) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
