Gold Rises Before Crime Referendum

Gold traded near the highest level in six months as escalating tensions in Ukraine, before a vote in Crimea on breaking away to join Russia, boosted demand for the precious metal as a store of value.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are meeting in London today to discuss the crisis in Ukraine. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have warned that the March 16 vote in Crimea has no international legitimacy.

“Bullion is trading mostly on risk sentiment at the moment helped by a technically strong uptrend,” Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital Plc in London, wrote in a note today. “The ongoing uncertainty over Ukraine will be in focus today and on Monday with the Crimean succession referendum stealing headlines.”

Bullion for April delivery rose 0.3 percent to $1,376.70 an ounce by 8:32 a.m. on the Comex in New York, where futures trading volumes were 13 percent lower than the average for the past 100 days for this time of day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prices rose earlier to $1,377.30 an ounce, the highest since Sept. 10. Gold for immediate delivery rose 0.5 percent to $1,376.77 an ounce in London.

via Bloomberg

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