The price on the London Bullion Market jumped more than $13 an ounce from Monday to top last December’s record of $1,431.25, before falling off slightly to around $1,430.50 at 2035 GMT.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price on the contract for April delivery closed at $1,431.20, also a record for that market.
The jump came after oil prices rose again on Libyan unrest and US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke warned that a sustained rise in oil prices could potentially threaten US economic growth and spark dangerous broader price rises.
“Sustained rises in the prices of oil and other commodities would represent a threat both to economic growth and to overall price stability,” the central banker said in testimony to Congress Tuesday.