By Seher Dareen
(Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Monday as fighting in Ukraine boosted demand for safe-haven bullion, while investors kept a close tab on Moscow-Kyiv peace talks.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.6% to $1,931.83 per ounce by 12:53 p.m. ET (1653 GMT). U.S. gold futures for April GCv1 rose 2% to 1,933.60, trading within a range of $1,917.2 and $1,938.6.
"Another escalation around Ukraine will drive significant safe haven flows to gold, even inflation hedge moves if we see sanctions that trigger another commodity surge," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Russia and Ukraine were nearing agreement on "critical" issues, Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday, but demand for riskier assets retreated and oil prices climbed as fighting continued. MKTS/GLOB O/R
While rumours of a potential compromise over the weekend brought gold prices down from their highs, the "next launching pad for gold would be the $1,900 area," said Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Wealth Management.
Last week, gold shed more than 3% on hopes for progress in the talks and a U.S. interest rate hike.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Monday he was open to a more aggressive policy tightening, while pencilling in six rate hikes for 2022.
The market 0#FF: implies a 50-50 chance of a half point hike in May and an even greater chance by June. FEDWATCH
"Even if the Fed's upper estimates of rate raises become reality, inflation will still be ahead, and real interest rates negative, maintaining a positive environment for gold in the medium term," analysts at Heraeus precious metals wrote in a note.
Spot silver XAG= rose 0.8% to $25.14, platinum XPT= was up 1.6% to $1,038.07, while palladium XPD= rose 1% to
$2,516.93.
The Ukraine conflict coupled with COVID-related restrictions in semiconductor fabrication hubs in China could hurt automotive demand for metals such as palladium, used as an autocatalyst in vehicle exhausts to curb emissions, Heraeus added.