Gold makes run for record high as Ukraine concerns, inflation risks mount

• Gold extended its rally towards a record high on Tuesday, after investors made a beeline for the traditional safe-haven metal on mounting fears around the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with the U.S. and Britain saying they would ban oil from Moscow. 
• Meanwhile, worries over a palladium supply shortfall due to sanctions on Russia, the top producer of the auto-catalyst metal, kept its price near all-time highs. 
• Spot gold was up 2.4% to $2,046.49 per ounce as of 01:36 p.m. ET (1836 GMT), after rising to $2,069.89 earlier in the session, a whisker away from a peak of $2,072.50 touched in August 2020. U.S. gold futures settled 2.4% higher to $2,043.30. 
• David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures has said that the combination of soaring energy prices, grain prices, base metal prices have culminated in dramatic inflationary pressures that continue to be the major underlying support behind gold moving higher.

(Source: Reuters)