Gold little changed as focus remains on Ukraine crisis

[BENGALURU] Gold was unchanged on Monday (Mar 21), hovering near a 2-week low it hit last week, as investors eyed developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict while looking to price in the US Federal Reserve's more aggressive measures to combat inflation.

Spot gold was flat at US$1,921.80 per ounce by 1.13 am GMT, after touching its lowest since Feb 28 at US$1,894.70 last week. US gold futures were down 0.3 per cent to US$1,923.90.

Russian and Ukrainian forces fought for the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Sunday, where residents are trapped with little food, water and power, despite attempts at peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in the previous week.

Two of Fed's most hawkish policymakers said on Friday the central bank needs to take more aggressive steps to combat inflation.

The Fed last week also raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point and forecast an aggressive plan to push borrowing costs to restrictive levels next year.

Higher interest rates tend to raise the opportunity cost of holding non-interest paying gold.

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.8 per cent to 1,082.44 tonnes on Friday - a high since March 2021.

Elevated domestic prices dimmed retail appetite for physical gold in India last week, while a resurgence in Covid-19 cases prompted dealers in China and Hong Kong to offer discounts.

Palladium, used by automakers in catalytic converters to curb emissions, rose 1.6 per cent to US$2,529.72 per ounce.

The auto-catalyst metal hit a record high of US$3,440.76 on Mar 7, driven by fears of supply disruptions from top producer Russia.

Spot silver was up 0.2 per cent to US$25.00 per ounce, platinum rose 0.7 per cent to US$1,029.21. REUTERS