Gold heads for best quarter in six on Russia-Ukraine war

[March 31, 2022]  By Bharat Gautam

(Reuters) - Gold was on course to post its biggest quarterly gain since September 2020 as the safe-haven metal's appeal was lifted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and concerns over sky-high inflation.

However, by 0938 GMT, spot gold XAU= slipped 0.5% to $1,93.40 per ounce and U.S. gold futures GCv1 fell 0.6% to $1,927.80 as oil prices fell.

Oil plunged on news that the United States was considering releasing a large quantity of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tackle high fuel prices.

"This (lower oil prices) has somewhat allayed the inflation concerns of market participants, meaning that gold as a store of value appears to be in less demand initially today," Commerzbank said in a note.

Bullion has gained about 5.2% this quarter as a Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February drove gold to a near record high earlier this month. (Full Story)

Along with the Ukraine crisis, worries over high inflation and whether efforts by major central banks are enough to rein it in are weighing on the economy and helping gold do well, said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central.

Meanwhile, European stocks were set for the biggest quarterly drop since the start of 2020. MKTS/GLOB

Marked ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a cart at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/

Non-yielding bullion is considered a safe store of value during uncertain times and a hedge against inflation.

Gold also remains en route to post a monthly rise, despite falling earlier in the month ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to hike borrowing costs for the first time in three years to tame inflation. (Full Story)

Silver XAG= dipped 0.6% to $24.69 per ounce. Platinum XPT= slipped 0.7% to $983.27. Still, they were set to record quarterly gains.

Auto-catalyst metal palladium XPD= slipped 1.3% to $2,235.77, but is set for its sharpest quarterly jump since September 2020, having hit record highs earlier this month after the West heaped sanctions on top-producer Russia. (Full Story)

(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)

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