Gold price advances on rising Russia-Ukraine tensions
Gold rose on Monday as the prospect of further sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine bolstered the metal’s safe-haven appeal, though a stronger dollar and rising US bond yields capped bullion’s gains.
Spot gold was up 1.2% to $1,933.33 per ounce by 12:15 p.m. ET, while US gold futures advanced 0.7% to $1,936.90 in New York.
Global outrage spread on Monday over the killings of civilians in northern Ukraine and looked set to galvanize the West into leveling additional sanctions against Moscow, which could possibly include Russia’s energy exports.
“Safe-haven demand may ease if peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are successful, but inflation looks set to remain elevated, which could continue to support the gold price,” analysts at Heraeus Precious Metals wrote in a Reuters note.
“There is a possibility of even higher inflation due to a pandemic-related shipping slowdown in China as well as the war in Ukraine, which bodes well for gold,” according to Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.
Investors also are looking ahead to the release on Wednesday of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting, which may include clues as to the possibility of the US central bank raising its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point next month.
Amid expectations that interest rates will rise sharply, the dollar index jumped to a one-week peak on the back of rising US Treasury yields, curbing gold’s rise.
