Oil is up nearly 4% on the day with WTI crude now seen up to above $86 in a big surge in European morning trade. This comes as Israel issued a threat and instructed civilians in Gaza to evacuate the city and relocate to the south within the next 24 hours. As such, markets are responding by seeking shelter ahead of the weekend it would seem.

Looking at other commodities, gold is also up 1% on the day to $1,887 as safety bets are preferred. The yellow metal is helped out by a continued rebound from its 200-week moving average last week near $1,810 but the developments between Israel and Palestine have proven rather timely as well.

Going back to oil, the price action today brings us back to the gap higher on Monday as we look to close out the week.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.