by Mark O’Byrne, Gold Core:

– Very robust gold sales experienced by gold brokers, including GoldCore, in the UK this week and today

– May’s ruling Conservative party loses overall majority and prospect of hung U.K. parliament

– PM May vulnerable from within Tory Party and Corbyn has called for her to resign

– Corbyn and Labour party on the rise which may pose risks to vulnerable London property market and UK economy as investor sentiment towards UK sours further

– Vote set to boost political turmoil in UK, complicate Brexit talks with EU whose hand is strengthened

The outcome throws into doubt May’s future as prime minister just days before negotiations are due to start on the country’s exit from the EU.

Instead of increasing her majority to strengthen her hand in talks with European leaders, May has lost seats and the Conservative Party has fallen short of an absolute majority in parliament.

“The weakness in the pound has pushed up gold prices in sterling,” said Madhavi Mehta, an analyst at Kotak Commodity Services Pvt in Mumbai. “The pound has weakened amid prospects that the Brexit negotiations will be long and arduous.”

Spot gold rose as much as 2.2 percent to £1,007.52 pounds an ounce before trading at 1,002.34 pounds by 3:32 p.m. in Singapore. Bullion in the U.S. currency retreated 0.4 percent to $1,272.93 an ounce, extending its decline from a seven-month high of $1,296.15. It’s heading for the first weekly drop since early May.

The Conservative Party was on course to win 318 seats, down from 330 held at the start of the campaign and short of the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party will take 261 seats, a gain of 29 seats, according to BBC projections.

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