LONDON: Gold topped $2,000 per ounce for the time in more than a year Monday on haven demand as investors fretted over global bank fears despite the buyout of Credit Suisse.

The precious metal, seen as a safe store of value in times of turmoil, rose as high as $2,009.73 in early morning London deals.

That was the highest level since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine just over one year ago.

Gold later pared gains to stand at $1,995, which marked a gain of 0.3 percent from late Friday.

The metal has jumped by almost nine percent in value since the collapse of US regional lender Silicon Valley Bank ten days ago.

“Continued fallout from the banking sector has seen a flood of money to gold” on “its safe haven qualities”, said Kinesis analyst Rupert Rowling.

European bank shares fell sharply Monday despite news that Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS has agreed to buy Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion.