Gold prices declined moderately today, departing from the three-week high, as the tension in relations between Ukraine and Russia has declined, and investors pay attention to the growing global equities.

Late on Friday the Russian Defense Ministry announced the completion of military exercises in the south of Russia, who criticized the United States as a provocative step in a crisis in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, we add that over the weekend continued clashes between security forces and pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels in eastern Ukraine after Ukraine rejected the proposal rebels a ceasefire. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was Ukraine, as well as its American and European allies have accused of supporting the rebels, said the fighting pose a threat to the humanitarian crisis and offered assistance. Experts believe that the invasion of the territory of Ukraine of Russian troops could lead to another increase in the price of gold. Otherwise, investors will continue to close long positions, thus supporting the formation of a downward movement.

Also note that on Sunday the United States again inflicted air strikes on militant positions of the insurgent group Islamic state in northern Iraq to protect Iraqi civilians from the uprising, as well as its soldiers, who are in the country. On Sunday, Israel and Hamas agreed to a fresh 72-hour cease-fire in the Gaza Strip after months of violence in the territory of Hamas.

The value of the precious metal also affect expectations that the Fed is still the United States in the near future to consider the possibility of starting a rate hike (assuming that the reports will indicate the continuing recovery of the economy).

The presented data also showed that the gold reserves in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund, fell on Friday by 1.79 tons - up to 795.86 tons.

The cost of the September futures contract for gold on COMEX today dropped to $ 1305.90 per ounce.