Investing.com - Gold prices posted a modest rebound in early Asia on Thursday with events in the Ukraine off the boil for now, but still closely watched.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at $1,290.30 a troy ounce, up 0.11%, after hitting an overnight session low of $1,286.80 and off a high of $1,314.70.
Overnight, Gold prices fell fter Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would do everything he can to find a way out of the crisis in Ukraine.
Concerns that Ukraine will descend into civil war eased after President Putin called on separatists in the eastern reaches of the country to postpone their referendum on independence, and added that Russia had withdrawn its forces from the border.
Putin stressed that Russia will do "all it can" to resolve the crisis and will take a "most positive" approach to international peace efforts.
The crisis has taken its toll on the dollar by stoking fears the U.S. will become more involved, which could hamper recovery, thus making gold an attractive safe-haven, though Putin's olive branch gave the dollar support.
Gold shrugged off comments from the top U.S. economist.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said earlier that a high degree of monetary accommodation remains warranted given the slack still persistent in the economy, and added that while conditions in the U.S. labor market have improved, they remain far from satisfactory.
Yellen added that monetary authorities expect economic growth to accelerate this year despite the slowdown in the first quarter but warned that the recent housing market slowdown "could prove more protracted than currently expected."
While interest rates will remain low for some time to come, stimulus programs such as monthly Fed asset purchases that have supported gold for years are widely seen wrapping up this year.
Silver for July delivery was down 0.09% at $19.325 a troy ounce. Copper futures for July delivery were down 0.01% at $3.036 a pound.