Precious-Gold rose for a second day on Wednesday, hovering around 19-week high, as escalating geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and drop in equity markets spurred haven demand on the metal.
Russian forces strengthened their grip over Crimea, causing Ukraine to call for Western relief on Tuesday to stop Moscow annexing Crimea.
The EU is prepared to impose sanctions on Russia for violating the international law, following a referendum in Crimea on March 16 that would decide on splitting from Ukraine and joining Russia.
On the other hand, worries from China slowdown after the unexpected in exports in February have added to worries.
U.S. shares dropped on Tuesday closing, where S&P lost 0.5 percent to 1,867.62 and Dow Jones dipped 0.4 percent to 16,351.25.
With the absence of economic data from the United States, investors are focusing more on political events. However, they remain cautious after last week’s nonfarm payrolls data has raised speculations the Fed would continue with their stimulus reduction plan.
Expectations are in favor of seeing further bond-purchases cut by slashing another $10 billion to $55 billion during the March 18-19 Fed meeting.
The yellow metal, however, is still moving in a narrow range, as investors are holding their buy or sell decision until the Fed’s coming meeting.
Meanwhile, the yellow metal is trading around $1356.47 an ounce after hitting a high of $1362.57 and a low of $1345.29.
So far, the yellow metal has gained 13 percent this year after dropping 28 percent in 2013.
The U.S. dollar ticked up for a fourth straight session against a basket of major currencies to hover around 79.81 after opening at 79.77, according to the dollar index.
Crude oil for April’s delivery slumped for a third day to $99.23 a barrel, after touching a high of $99.58.