Gold prices climbed on Friday to hit a historic peak as central bank purchases amid geopolitical tensions sustained the momentum for the yellow metal, while strong US economic data failed to dampen bullion’s allure. Spot gold was up 0.5% at $2,384.34 per ounce, as of 0345 GMT. Bullion hit a record high 2,395.29 earlier in the session. US gold futures gained 1.2% to $2,401.80. “One thing that is definitely fulfilling this gold buy from central banks are the wars happening around the globe, if we look through the history this always happened as gold is a safe haven,” ACY Securities analyst Luca Santos said. Despite recent hot inflation data and a strong US jobs report last week stirring more questions on the feasibility of rate cuts this year, bullion is poised for a fourth straight weekly rise and has gained over 15% so far for the year. “We expect gold prices to rise in the next two months. From a technical perspective, this rally is a result of gold prices breaking out of a record 42-month consolidation period.