Gold rises as Ukraine war weighs on risk sentiment

Gold prices rose on Monday as the war in Ukraine and risk-off sentiment in equities reinforced safe-haven demand for the metal, although high US Treasury yields after strong jobs data March capped bullion earnings.

By 0946 GMT, spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,926.56 an ounce, while US gold futures were up 0.4% at $1,930.70.

“We haven’t seen any progress in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks and negotiations, so we’ve seen a modest return to the risk-averse scenario, which is lifting gold prices,” Kinesis analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa said. .

“The price of gold is moving in a sideways trading range… The first directional signal will come only when gold can jump above $1,950 or drop below $1,900,” he added.

Ukraine has accused Russia of war crimes, casting a shadow over its planned peace talks on Monday. Meanwhile, Germany said the West will agree to impose more sanctions on Moscow, causing stock markets to turn cautious.

However, bullion’s gains were capped by March’s strong jobs report, which confirmed expectations of a further interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar index was helped by the fact that two-year bond yields touched their highest level since the beginning of 2019.

In other precious metals, spot silver was up 0.4% at $24.71 an ounce; platinum rose 0.4% to $989.81; and palladium jumped 2.1% to $2,324.16.