Precious metals were scaling up in value Friday morning amidst news that opposition leaders declined a mediation offer between Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi and rebel forces attempting to wrest control away from the 42-year ruler, Bloomberg reports.
Just prior to 9 a.m., gold futures were up 0.04 percent, a $0.60 increase to $1,417 per troy ounce. Silver futures were up 0.46 percent, a $0.158 rise to $34.485 per troy ounce.
"The situation in the Middle East and North Africa is really tense and there's a lot of uncertainty," Bernard Sin, the head of currency and metal trading at Geneva bullion refiner MKS Finance, told Bloomberg.
Anti-government protests successfully toppled leaders in Tunisia in January and Egypt in February. Having intensified in Libya shortly after Hosni Mubarak of Egypt fled Cairo for Sharm el Sheik, demonstrations have flared in Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Iran and Iraq.
Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela who is considered a rare ally of the embattled Libyan leader, offered to create a "mediation commission" and although the Arab League did convene with Venezuelan officials, the overture was turned down by the opposition.
"We do not accept any negotiations" with Gadhafi, opposition spokesman Mustafa Gheriani told the Associated Press.
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