(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Gold $1,346.5 +6.10 +0.46%

ICE Brent Crude Oil $108.40 +0.54 -0.50%

NYMEX Crude Oil $99.52 -1.65 -1.63%

Prices for WTI crude oil continued its decline yesterday on speculation that a government report will show an increase in U.S. wholesale inventories of oil up last week. As the price of Brent Brent, they rose moderately .

Analysts predict that crude oil inventories rose by 1.85 million barrels. Gasoline stocks are projected down 2 million barrels. Stocks of distillates , including heating oil and diesel, are expected to have fallen by 450,000 barrels. If the evidence will justify the expectations , then the prices will continue to rise .

While providing support to oil quotations absence of an agreement on the Iranian atom. Last Sunday , the head of EU diplomacy , Catherine Ashton said that to reach a final agreement will be very difficult . Another round of talks "six" and Iran 's nuclear program will be held March 17 in Vienna. From the words of Ashton became clear that a favorable outcome should not hope . Also, it is still possible sanctions against Russia by the EU and the U.S. that support oil prices .

The course of trade is also affected by the situation in Libya . Group of armed men who seized the port of Es Sidr in the east of the country , said that the beginning of their own oil exports . The first batch of oil tanker was sent to North Korea.

An equally important factor is the concern that the escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Russia , the world's largest energy exporter , may disrupt supply . Earlier today, Acting Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh said that the armed forces are given in full readiness and earnings ranges for military exercises .

Meanwhile, adding that concerns about demand growth in the world's two largest oil consumer countries , the U.S. and China , keep the prices under pressure. Recall that the data published at the weekend in China, showed new signs of a slowdown in economic growth in the country . Exports from China in February fell by 18.1% in annual terms - up to 114.1 billion and imports increased by 10.1 % - to 137.1 billion dollars.

Traders also expect a monthly report on demand from OPEC , which will be presented tomorrow and Friday's report from the International Energy Agency.

April futures price for U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to $ 100.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

April futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose 40 cents to $ 108.26 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

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.