Gold climbs as West cranks up sanctions on Russia

Shafaq News / Palladium jumped about 6% on Monday as fresh Western sanctions on Russia raised supply concerns for the auto-catalyst, while gold rose over 1% as safe-have demand was buoyed by President Vladimir Putin putting Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert.

Palladium was up 5.1% at $2,486.64, as of 0335 GMT, after scaling its highest since July 2021 at $2,711.18 last week, and set for a third consecutive monthly rise.

Palladium jumped about 6% on Monday as fresh Western sanctions on Russia raised supply concerns for the auto-catalyst, while gold rose over 1% as safe-have demand was buoyed by President Vladimir Putin putting Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert.

Palladium was up 5.1% at $2,486.64, as of 0335 GMT, after scaling its highest since July 2021 at $2,711.18 last week, and set for a third consecutive monthly rise.

Gold is often used as a hedge against inflation and as a means of preserving wealth during times of financial and political uncertainty.

Spot silver rose 0.3% to $24.26 per ounce and platinum was up 0.2% at $1,055.85, with both poised for monthly gains.

The United States and its allies on Saturday moved to block certain Russian banks' access to the SWIFT international payment system, which traders and analysts said could disrupt Russian exports of all commodities from oil and metals to grains.

President Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday, the fourth day of the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.

Source: Reuters