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Gold futures traded slightly higher on Wednesday, as markets reacted to shifting headlines on conflict in Russia over Ukraine.
A a NATO official said they had seen no signs of Russian troop withdrawal around that country, which was raising concerns that an invasion by Russia in Kyiv might be imminent, lifting the bullish case for bullion.
Gold for April delivery
GCJ22,
GC00,
was trading $3.40, or 0.2%, to reach $1,859.60 an ounce, following a 1% decline on Tuesday.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s secretary-general said Russia was continuing its military buildup around Ukraine, even as Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it was withdrawing troops after its drills.
“Technically, the April gold futures bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage,” wrote Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com.
“Prices are trending up on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close in February futures above solid resistance at the November high of $1,882.50,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, commodity investors also are watching the latest from the Federal Reserve with minutes from its late-January meeting due at 2 p.m. ET. Investors are fixated on how quickly the Fed might raise interest rates as its attempts to combat surging inflation.
Ahead of that report, investors parsed sales for U.S. retailers, which jumped 3.8% in January. The increase in sales was the largest since last March, when Americans spent a good chunk of their stimulus money from the government. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast after retail sales fell a revised 2.5% in December.
Separately, import prices for January rose 2% and 1.4%, excluding fuel costs.
