Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold fell 0.7% to close above $1,855 as a possible de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine tensions stoked risk appetite and reduced demand for safe-haven assets. It was the metal's first down session in the past eight.

Russia said today some of its 130,000 soldiers amassed on the Ukraine border will be returning to their bases, lending some hope that an invasion of Ukraine might not occur. Exactly how many troops were being pulled, or from where, remains unknown.

The move comes one day after Russia's foreign minister indicated that negotiations with NATO over security issues will continue.

Investors cheered the softer rhetoric, pushing all three major US stock indexes sharply higher. The Dow rose 1.2% while the S&P 500 picked up 1.5% and the Nasdaq jumped 2.4%.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields crept back above 2% as traders shifted out of safe havens. Higher yields weigh on gold by increasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds.

Gold was also pressured by expectations of aggressive monetary tightening by the Fed after wholesale inflation jumped 1% in January, double most forecasts. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard reiterated his call for interest rates to rise 1% by July to snuff out strongest inflation in 40 years.

While gold is often sought as inflation hedge, higher rates tend to weigh on it by lifting the dollar, making gold more expensive in other currencies.

The other precious metals were also lower, with silver sliding 2.1% and platinum and palladium lost 0.7% and 4%, respectively.

At the Comex close: April gold slid $13.20 to $1855.10; March silver dropped 51 cents to $23.34; April platinum fell $7.60 to $1020.40; and March palladium tumbled $3.70 to $2,252.30.