By Jan Harvey
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rallied more than 1 percent on Tuesday as investors sought assets seen as a haven from risk after deadly bomb attacks hit Brussels airport and a rush-hour Metro train in the Belgian capital.
The attacks killed more than 30 people and triggered security alerts across Europe that brought some cross-border traffic to a halt.
Spot gold rallied to a high of $1,259.60 an ounce in the wake of the attacks, and was 0.9 percent higher at $1,254.35 an ounce at 1246 GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery were up $11.20 an ounce at $1,255.40.
Gold had fallen for three sessions in a row before Tuesday on uncertainty over the path of U.S. interest rates. Speculation rates would rise pushed gold down 10 percent last year but it has rebounded 20 percent so far in 2016 as those fears faded.
"Before the explosions we had some fairly hawkish comments from one of the Fed officials saying a rate increase could now be on the agenda for April," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.
"I'd have thought that would have weakened gold, but clearly safe-haven buying on the back of the explosions in Brussels has (pushed prices higher)," Bhar said.
Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday the United States may be in line for a rate rise as soon as next month, in another sign policymakers are comfortable letting U.S. monetary policy diverge from other major economies.
European stocks fell and investors also rushed for the safety of government bonds after the explosions in Brussels. The euro slipped, the yen and the Swiss franc rose, and the dollar index climbed 0.3 percent after the news.
A witness said he heard shouts in Arabic shortly before two blasts struck a packed airport departure lounge at Brussels airport. The federal prosecutor said one of the blasts was probably triggered by a suicide bomber.
Elsewhere, data from the Swiss customs bureau showed Switzerland's gold exports fell to an 18-month low in February as shipments to leading gold consumers India, China and Hong Kong slumped from the previous month.
"Exports to China, Hong Kong and India plunged by over 40 percent month-on-month and are thus nearly 30 percent lower than in the same period last year. This points to subdued gold demand in Asia," Commerzbank said in a note.
Silver was up 0.8 percent at $15.93 an ounce, platinum rose 0.5 percent to $984 an ounce and palladium was 1.4 percent higher at $605.50 an ounce, just off an earlier four-month high of $606.
(Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; editing by Dale Hudson and David Clarke)
