Higher In Asia

Gold is ~$11/oz higher, printing ~$1,915/oz at writing. The precious metal has backed away from session highs around $1,920/oz, after Fed Governor Waller pointed to the potential for a 50bp rate hike in March (flagging data-dependence), in addition to the need for a total 100bp of tightening by mid-year (although he conceded that geopolitical risks may result in the need for a more moderate tightening cycle).

• Still, developments in Ukraine continue to dominate price action, with participants now monitoring the progress of the Russian military towards the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv. Worry re: the potential for a regime change in Ukraine has been flagged.
• To recap, gold closed slightly lower on Thursday after large swings that peaked at ~$1,975/oz (on news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine), before plunging to ~$1,880/oz in the NY session (following the announcement of U.S. sanctions on Russia). Note that Western sanctions in the wake of the Russian military operations have been deemed less severe than initially feared e.g. Russia can still access the SWIFT payments system and there has been a lack of personal sanctions on Russian President Putin.