Pullback From Cycle Highs As Biden & Putin To Meet

Gold is ~$2/oz lower, printing $1,896.4/oz at writing. The precious metal has pulled back from fresh eight-month highs registered earlier in the session ($1,908.3/oz) after U.S. President Biden and Russian President Putin agreed to meet (in principle) at a summit brokered by French President Macron, as fluid developments surrounding the Russia-Ukraine situation continue to dominate price action.

• The early move higher was facilitated by a weekend Bloomberg source report which stated that the U.S. had informed allies that a Russian invasion would likely target “multiple cities beyond the capital Kyiv” in the case of an attack. Ultimately, risks re: the escalation of the situation in Ukraine remain apparent, with White House spokesperson Psaki stating that “we are always ready for diplomacy,” but “Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,” in remarks re: the Biden-Putin summit.
• Looking ahead, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and Russian FM Lavrov are due to meet this Thursday to establish further details of the meeting between the Presidents of the two countries.
• On the technical front, the early move higher saw a push through initial technical resistance, which has allowed bulls to switch focus to medium-term resistance at $1,916.6/oz (Jun 1 ’21 high). Support remains in place at $1,844.7/oz (Feb 15 low).