Gold prices rose today, as concerns over slowing growth in China and concern about the crisis in Ukraine undermined risk appetite . Tensions over Ukraine continues to put diplomacy " a dead end" , and the government of the European Union stated that it considered the possibility of sanctions against Russia if it fails to respond positively to the initiative to "calm" the crisis.

Ukraine said it will use the power of the new National Guard in response to Russia's attempts to annex the Crimea, on the next day after Russian troops opened fire when capturing Ukrainian military base.

"The situation in Ukraine in itself led to some purchases of safe havens , and also have a big impact on the stock markets , which in turn caused the movement of funds into gold" , experts say. "If the geopolitical situation worsens, we are likely to see increased risk of trading in the stock markets and the increasing appeal of safer assets such as gold ." Recall that in times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty gold is seen as an alternative investment assets .

Traders expect that gold prices will remain in the range between $ 1330 and $ 1350 on the eve of the meeting of Fed policy , which is scheduled for March 18-19 . The central bank is likely to announce a further reduction of the asset purchase program by 10 billion dollars. We also add that weak Chinese export data for February caused many investors to choose as a safe-haven gold, not stocks .

In a sign that confidence in the precious metal can be revived against the backdrop of global uncertainties , the largest gold exchange-traded fund in the world SPDR Gold Trust said yesterday that the largest influx was seen in the past month - inventories increased by 7.50 tons , amounting to 812 , 70 thousand tons.

The cost of the April gold futures on the COMEX today rose to $ 1346.90 per ounce.