This in turn sparked a wave of safe haven buying, pushing the price of gold beyond $2,300 per troy ounce as Iran retaliated with a missile attack of its own against US troops.

While US President Donald Trump’s overnight decision not to escalate things further did cool things off, the price at 11AM, 9 January, is still sitting up at $2,266 per troy ounce.

The precious metals rally continues the strong upside move that the Perth Mint dates back to 2018’s fourth quarter, when a sharp decline in equity markets reignited demand for gold and other safe haven assets.

Gold’s value has skyrocketed more than 30 per cent in Australian dollar terms since.

The Perth Mint said it has seen investor appetite for precious metals grow firsthand, with the number of clients opening direct depository accounts more than doubling last year alone.

The jump in the price of gold has coincided with a jump in the price of a number of other key markets.

Bitcoin closed on 8 January at US$8,096.75 after jumping to a high of US$8,391.52 earlier in the day.

Crude oil peaked on 6 January at $63.27 before settling at $62.70 on 7 January.