Crude oil, gold prices remain elevated despite easing tensions over Ukraine

Mumbai, Feb 16 (IANS) Prices of Brent crude oil, gold, and silver remained at elevated levels despite the easing of Russia-Ukraine tensions.Brent Crude oil price hovered over $95 per barrel from its 7-year high levels of $96 per barrel. Similarly, gold prices remained above Rs 50,000 per 10 gram in the domestic market.A sharp rise was seen in the prices of these commodities on Monday as tensions grew between Russia and Ukraine.Russia is one of the world's top producers of crude oil and gold, and any western sanctions against Russia will stiffen the global supply.However, prices were expected to cool-off as traders weighed the prospect of diminishing tension over Ukraine especially after US President Joe Biden said there was still "room for diplomacy" to resolve the Ukraine crisis."Crude oil and bullion prices resumed uptrend on Wednesday as investors focused on high inflation and tight supplies in the oil market," said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities."The conflicting statements on Russia announced of de-escalation has also spurred some buying in crude oil." IIFL Securities VP Research Anuj Gupta said: "Crude oil prices are in uptrend due to shortage of supply and unresolved geopolitical tensions. Prices may test $100 very soon due to these issues. "Gold prices are also in a positive trend due to inflation. It may test $1,880 to $1,900 levels soon."
--IANS rv/vd

(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)