Title: Gold Down, Hopes Rise for Ukraine Conflict Resolution

Mar 18, 2022 12:28AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Gold prices fell in Asia on Friday morning, steering towards the largest weekly drop since the end of November 2021. Hopes for progress in ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia have hurt the yellow metal's appeal as a safe haven.

At 12:24 a.m. ET, gold futures were 0.40 percent lower at $1,935.40 per ounce, bringing the week's loss to 2.4 percent.

After the invasion on February 24, Russia appeared to have halted its advance on Ukrainian cities. Nevertheless, representatives of both countries met again for peace talks. Progress, however, was limited.

"Certainly a quarter-point increase in interest rates was expected, but what was not expected was six more increases over the course of 2022, which is a hawkish statement from the Federal Reserve," McCarthy said. He was referring to the 0.5% interest rate set by the central bank in its decision on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the Bank of England raised its interest rates to 0.75% in its decision on Thursday. The Bank of Japan left its rate at-0.10% when it announced its monetary policy decision earlier in the day.

In other precious metals, palladium rose 2.7% but suffered its second consecutive weekly decline of around 8%. Silver slipped 0.3%, its first weekly decline in seven weeks.

Platinum was unchanged at $1,021.62 but suffered a weekly decline of 5%, the largest since November 2021.