Syria crisis sparks rallies in crude oil, gold

Reuters (29/8) - Oil and gold prices surged for a second straight day on Wednesday as speculation of an imminent military strike on Syria raised worries about Middle East oil supplies and pushed safe-haven investors toward precious metals. Brent crude settled up $2.25 at $116.61 after hitting a six-month high of $117.34. U.S. crude gained $1.09 to settle at $110.10. In gold, the spot price of bullion was up 0.2 percent at $1,416.26 an ounce by 4:10 p.m. (20.10 GMT), having earlier hit $1,433.31, its highest price since May 14. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down $1.40 an ounce at $1,418.60, with trading volume about 10 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/us-markets-commodities-idUSBRE97R19H20130828