Gold firms as investors mull Ukraine crisis

Bengaluru — Gold rose on Friday, stabilising after big swings in the previous session when prices jumped as much as 3% before closing lower, as investors reassessed the fallout of the Ukraine crisis and fresh sanctions imposed by the West against Russia.

Palladium resumed its rally, with traders cued in for signals on supply shortfalls that may be triggered by the conflict.

Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,912.61/oz by 4.39am GMT, after hitting its highest since September 2020 at $1,973.96/oz on Thursday. US gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,913.30/oz.

“In the near term, investors are still digesting, still assessing the risks and rewards as a result of the Ukraine invasion and the implications of Western sanctions on Russia,” said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX.

Gold has stabilised back into “normal levels” with investors buying the dips after a volatile overnight US trading session, Yang said.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to stay in Kyiv as his troops battled Russian invaders who are advancing towards the capital in the biggest attack on a European state since World War 2.

“February has proved to be the perfect storm for gold — with inflation, falling stock markets and geopolitical uncertainty boosting its safe-haven appeal,” said David Jones, chief market strategist at Capital.com.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that invest in gold and other precious metals have seen huge inflows this year. Auto-catalyst metal palladium gained 2.6% to $2,465.68/oz, after scaling a peak since July 2021 at $2,711.18/oz on Thursday.

Russia’s Nornickel is a major producer of palladium and platinum used in catalytic converters to clean car exhaust fumes, and traders have flagged risks that sanctions on both sides could significantly tighten supplies of the metal.

Spot silver rose 0.5% to $24.32/oz, platinum was up 0.5% to $1,062.29/oz.

Reuters