Gold is powering ahead following on from gains of more than $20 yesterday after a missile test from North Korea greatly increased the chances of a military conflict in the region.

North Korea's latest missile test which flew directly over Japan  sent the Japanese people running for cover and landed in the water less than 800 miles from the coast

"North Korea's missiles over the Japanese Hokkaido islands obviously fueled buying for the flight for safety kind of money including the Japanese yen and gold," said Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager at ICBC Standard Bank.

This event follows on from last Fridays dovish speeches at Jackson hole Wyoming from US Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi which was also a driver of the gold price,

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at currency trading platform Oanda, said in a note that gold should push higher from here which may be at the expense of the US dollar

"The events of this morning have somewhat overshadowed gold's performance in the New York session where gold proceeded directly to go and put in a monster $20 rally from its opening," he said. "Trump's negative comments on the NAFTA renegotiation and no tightening signals from Jackson Hole see U.S. dollar selling renew with vigor in New York." He said.

US President Donald Trump has yet to weigh into the North Korean Saga but it is expected it is only a matter of time before he does and depending on the tone of his voice, investors are likely to keep heading for gold.