Gold rises with the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis

Gold prices rose on Monday, boosted by the safe-haven appetite, as the Ukraine crisis showed no signs of abating, although the US Federal Reserve’s plan to implement bold anti-inflation measures curbed gold’s gains. 3.0 percent to $ 1927.22 an ounce by 0528 GMT.

And US gold futures fell 1.0 percent to $ 1927.30.

Ukraine on Monday rejected Russian calls to hand over the besieged port city of Mariupol, whose besieged residents are short of food, water and electricity, with intense fighting showing no signs of abating.

To prevent gold prices from rising further, two of the Fed’s more hawkish policymakers said on Friday that the Fed needed to take bold steps to combat inflation.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neil Kashkari said he wants to raise interest rates from 1.75 percent to 2 percent this year.

Usually, raising the interest rate increases the opportunity cost of holding non-returning gold.

Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed fund, SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.8 percent to 1,082.44 tons on Friday, the highest level since March.

Palladium rose 3.4 percent to $97.9725 an ounce. It had risen to a record $3,440.76 on March 7, driven by fears of supply disruptions from Russia, the largest producer of the precious metal.

The price of silver in spot transactions rose 3.0 percent to $ 25.03 an ounce, while platinum rose 6.0 percent to $ 1028.20.