Gold broke the $1300 barrier this afternoon for the first time in 15 months. After soaring overnight to trade at $1298, the commodity proved its shine by unexpectedly moving past the $1300 key level. Futures hit $1,304.25 in early trading, climbing less than 1% or about $10 an ounce.

Gold is up about 21% from its December 2015 low. The precious commodity had reached rock bottom in 2001 after a nearly 20-year bear market, reaching its peak at $850 an ounce in 1980. It took eight years to start rebounding and didn’t reach the same price until 2009. Despite some ups and downs, gold’s price continued its ascent and is one of the best-performing assets year-to-date.

Analysts are expecting the Federal Reserve to keep rates steady over the next few months or increase them at a very slow pace. The U.S. dollar doesn't look likely to strengthen a great deal now until at least the September FOMC meeting and all this should provide gold with additional fuel to reach an all-time high.

Gold prices could explode even more if Britons decide to vote for leaving the European Union in the referendum on June 23 and officials at HSBC say that using gold as a hedging measure and as a ‘safe haven’ could be effective against the effects of the financial uncertainty of a Brexit.