(Bloomberg) — Gold rose for a third day, pushing above $5,000 an ounce, as traders weighed rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East.

President Donald Trump said 10 to 15 days were “pretty much” all he would allow for talks on a nuclear deal with Iran, as the US assembled its biggest military deployment in the region since before the Iraq war in 2003. Bullion rose more than 2% over the previous two sessions, with some Asian markets offline due to marking the Lunar New Year break.

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A major US strike against the Islamic Republic — where leaders are anxious about regime stability after widespread unrest — would risk entangling Washington in a third war of choice in the region since 1991, potentially fanning haven demand. As traders tracked the tensions, oil hit a six-month high.

The global gold market has been unusually choppy since a historic rout at the turn of the month, which saw bullion snap back from a record peak above $5,595 an ounce almost to $4,400 in just two days. A wave of speculative buying that accelerated in January took a multiyear rally to breaking point, though the factors that underpinned earlier growth remain largely intact, including a wider move away from sovereign bonds and currencies.

Banks including BNP Paribas SA and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have said they expect prices to resume their upward trend. Central banks, a major driver of gold’s rally, remain keen to build up holdings as a hedge against geopolitical and financial risks, Goldman analysts Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven said in a note. That’s despite elevated volatility that weighed on buying in December.

Elsewhere, the path of US interest rates – currently uncertain – will also be a key driver for gold, which typically benefits from lower borrowing costs. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran dialed back calls for how deep cuts should be, with data showing a stronger economy than he expected, Dow Jones reported.

On the supply side, Newmont Corp. — the world’s biggest gold miner — said Thursday it expects to produce about 10% less of the metal this year, due partly to planned upgrades at some of the mines it manages.

Spot gold gained 0.4% to $5,015.99 an ounce at 3:23 p.m. in Singapore. In other metals, silver added 0.4% to $78.83 an ounce, platinum rose 0.5%, and palladium was steady. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the US currency, was flat, but up 0.8% for the week.