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Gold prices rose nearly 1% on

Wednesday, supported by a retreat in the U.S. dollar and renewed

doubts about the possibility of a ceasefire between Russia and

Ukraine.

Spot gold was up 0.7% at $1,932.14 per ounce by 03:26

p.m. EDT (1926 GMT).

U.S. gold futures settled up 1.1% to $1,939.

The U.S. dollar fell 0.6% to nearly a two-week low,

making greenback-priced gold less expensive for other currency

holders.

Also helping gold, “this Russian situation, which seemed to

be improving yesterday is now kind of deteriorating again,”

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said Edward Meir, an analyst with ED&F Man Capital Markets.

The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed that Kyiv had set out its

demands for an end to the conflict in Ukraine in written form,

but said there was no sign of a breakthrough yet.

Gold prices dropped as much as 1.8% on Tuesday after Russia

pledged to cut down on military operations around Kyiv and in

northern Ukraine, but bullion pared most of the losses to settle

just 0.2% lower for the day.

Markets also were keeping a close tab on the U.S.

2-year/10-year Treasury yield curve, which briefly inverted on

Tuesday, as bond investors bet that aggressive tightening by the

Federal Reserve to fight soaring inflation could hurt the U.S.

economy.

Bullion is considered a safe store of value during times of

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political and financial uncertainty. It is also viewed as a

hedge against rising inflation.

“A strong bounce-back in crude oil prices from this week’s

low is also a bullish element for the metals markets, as well as

the rest of the raw commodity sector,” Jim Wyckoff, senior

analyst at Kitco Metals, said in a note.

Spot silver rose 0.1% to $24.78 per ounce, while

platinum climbed 0.6% to $988.27.

Palladium gained 4.6% to $2,246.69 after dipping to

more than a two-month low of $2,032.97 on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru;

Editing by Paul Simao, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Marguerita

Choy)