Gold prices hit a brief six-month-high Monday, trading at $1,390 this morning to fall later about 0.7% to 1,376.90 at around noon ET, despite the United States and the European Union announcing further sanctions over Crimea decision to join Russia.
US President Barack Obama imposed restrictions on 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials blamed for Moscow’s military incursion into Crimea, including two top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European Union foreign ministers, in turn, agreed to enforce travel bans and asset freezes on 21 officials from both nations.
Traders are now focusing on the US Federal Reserve next interest rate announcement on Wednesday, which will be followed by a news conference with new Fed chair Janet Yellen.
The world’s most powerful central bank is expected to cut its monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $55-billion a month.
Gold prices have gained close to 15% so far this year, but experts such as Michael Widmer, metals strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, believe this rally won’t last.
Widmer told CNBC Monday that negative economic and geopolitical news have created a “perfect storm” for the gold price, but that there were “a few things in the market” that make him believe it is not a sustained gain from here onwards.
