• Spot gold rose 1.5% to $1699.20/oz by 0054 GMT, having touched its highest since December 2012 at $1702.45 earlier in the session.
• US gold futures jumped 1.6% to $1699.70/oz.
GOLD prices jumped past the $1700 per ounce level for the first time since late 2012 on Monday, as a widening coronavirus outbreak and a plunge in crude oil hammered equities and sent investors scurrying for safe havens, Reuters reported.