A surprising mix of US interest rate cuts and shaky geopolitics has pushed gold into Australia’s second most valuable export, with the price surging towards $US4000 per ounce for the first time in history.

Gold topped a record high of $US3950 per ounce on Tuesday, with the precious metal set to overtake gas as Australia’s second most valuable resource export this financial year, according to the department of industry.

A range of factors — from aggressive US tariff policy to a new Japanese PM — has been driving the surge, with investors scrambling for a safe-haven asset protected from global volatility.

Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said that this uncertainty in geopolitics meant “everything that could be going right for gold at the moment, basically, is”.

The widely hel

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