Gold Down, but Set for Best Quarter in Six Over Ukraine War Demand

Gold was down on Thursday morning in Asia, but the yellow metal is set for its biggest quarterly gain since September 2020 as the ongoing war in Ukraine raises demand for the safe-haven asset.

Gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,919.9 by 1:23 AM ET (5:23 AM GMT), but the yellow metal has gained about 5.6% so far in the first quarter of 2022 and 1% in the month to date. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, edged up on Thursday, after hitting a near one-month low during the previous session.

The war in Ukraine that was triggered by Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 continues, with peace talks between the two countries making little progress. Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the east of the country as Moscow builds up its troops there after suffering setbacks near the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday.

U.S. Treasury yields fell while a key part of the yield curve steepened on Wednesday. This unwound recent moves betting that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance could send the world’s largest economy into recession.

In Asia Pacific, the Bank of Japan’s intervention to prevent government bond yields from rising too high starkly contrasts with the Fed’s approach. Chinese data released earlier in the day showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) was 49.5, while the non-manufacturing PMI was 48.4, in March 2022. The Caixin manufacturing PMI is due on Friday.

In other precious metals, silver fell 0.7% to $24.67 per ounce but was on course for its best quarterly rise since June 2021. Platinum fell 0.6% to $984.26 but was set for its biggest quarterly gain since March 2021. Palladium was down 0.5% to $2,255.28 but was on course for its sharpest quarterly jump since September 2020.