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Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,924.45 per ounce by 0712 GMT. U.S.
gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,924.00.
"A little bit of safe-haven flows (are) going into gold today
because Ukraine officially rejected the deadline from Russia,"
said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.
Ukraine on Monday rejected Russian calls to surrender the port
city of Mariupol, where residents are besieged with little food,
water and power and fierce fighting shows little sign of easing.
Preventing further gains in the metal, two of the Fed's most
hawkish policymakers said on Friday the central bank needs to
take more aggressive steps to combat inflation.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said he wants to raise
rates to 1.75% to 2% this year, according to an essay published
on the regional Fed bank's website.
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% to 1,082.44 tonnes on Friday —
a high since March 2021.
Palladium, used by automakers in catalytic converters to curb
emissions, gained 2.8% at $2,560.71 per ounce. It had hit a
record high of $3,440.76 on March 7, driven by fears of supply
disruptions from top producer Russia.
The auto-catalyst metal is responding better to the events
unfolding in Ukraine, "because with Ukraine officially saying no
to Russia, it puts peace talks on the back foot and of course
that brings further concerns over supplying constraints moving
forward," Simpson added.
Spot silver was flat at $24.96 per ounce, platinum rose 0.4% to
$1,025.83.
(Reporting by Asha Sistla in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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