*

Yen surges again after two bouts of spikes on Friday

*

Intervention worries swirl as Takaichi vows to act

*

Precious metals keep flying on safety flows, soft dollar

*

Investors await Fed policy meeting later in the week

(Updates prices in paragraphs 12, 18, 21)

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Gold charged past $5,000 an

ounce for the first time on Monday as an array of geopolitical

tensions pounded the dollar, while investors remained on

tenterhooks about possible official buying of the yen after a

series of surges in the Japanese currency.

The yen rose as much as 1.5% in Europe, ‌leaving the

dollar at its lowest since mid-November at 153.405 yen, after

sharp spikes in the Japanese currency on Friday sparked

speculation over potential intervention. The New York Federal

Reserve conducted rate checks on Friday, sources told Reuters,

raising the ​chance of joint U.S.-Japan intervention - the first

in 15 years - to halt the Japanese currency's slide.

"The market's inclination is to short the yen but the

possibility of ‍coordination means it no longer is a one-way

bet," said Prashant Newnaha, senior rates strategist at TD

Securities in Singapore.

JAPANESE ⁠CAMPAIGN PROMISES

The yen has been under relentless ⁠pressure since Sanae

Takaichi took over as Japan's prime minister in October.

Her campaign promises to ramp up spending and cut taxes

ahead of a snap election on February 8 have added to concern

that Japan's already stretched ‌finances could become even less

manageable, which has pushed government bond yields to record

highs, just ​as the Bank of Japan is slowly raising interest

rates to tackle inflation.

As the yen strengthened, Japan's Nikkei dropped

1.75%.

Other equity markets were more stable. Europe's STOXX 600

was steady, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%, as

traders counted down to a slew of earnings from ⁠big tech

companies and a Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week.

U.S. President Donald ‍Trump provided temporary ​relief to markets

last week when he appeared to back down from threats to slap

tariffs on European allies unless they let him take over

Greenland.

However, with the prospect of more sanctions targeting Iran in

the offing, there has been no let-up in investor anxiety over

geopolitics and the dollar is ‍bearing the brunt of that.

With the dollar plumbing its lowest levels against a basket

of major currencies in four months and volatility picking

up, gold drew in a fresh wave of capital, hitting yet another

record high in what has been a blistering rally over the last

six months.

"Gold clearly has a quite compelling story, in terms of

central bank reserve diversification, which you would have

thought gets reinforced by all of this intervention talk and

events in the U.S. more generally," Daiwa Capital Markets

economist Chris Scicluna said.

Possible U.S. involvement in the currency market was "very

significant", he said, adding: "If the U.S. authorities really

are keen to weaken their currency, then that's not just against

the ​yen, but against ‍other Asian currencies as well, whilst you

have the broader portfolio diversification theme away from the

U.S. also likely to play a role."

Gold was last up 2.1% at $5,089 an ounce, taking its gains in

January to more than 17%, while silver rose almost 7% to $110 an

ounce, up over ​50% this month.

INTERVENTION CHATTER KEEPS YEN ALOFT

Top Japanese authorities said on Monday they have been in close

coordination with the United States on foreign exchange, leaving

traders on edge at the prospect of an intervention that could

come any time.

Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, said the

warning from the rate check could help reset positioning and

remind the market there's a line near 159-160.

BOJ money market data released on Monday suggested there had

been no intervention on Friday.

The yen rallied across the board on Monday, lifting off

record lows against the euro and Swiss franc and multi-decade

lows against sterling.

The euro was up 0.2% at $1.185, just a whisker away from

September's 4-1/2-year highs.

Investors' focus this week will also be on the Federal Reserve,

which is expected to ​hold rates steady at the first meeting

since the Trump administration's criminal investigation of Chair

Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May.

Oil prices, meanwhile, edged up on Monday, having risen about 3%

on Friday, as traders worried about the impact on global supply

from possible U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil shipments, while a

cold front in the United States hit production in the key shale

basin.

Brent crude futures were up 0.15% ‍at $65.98 a barrel,

while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.1% at

$61.12 per barrel.

(Additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing

by Jacqueline Wong, Gareth Jones, Aidan Lewis)