Gold $1,357.1 -2.60 -0.19%

ICE Brent Crude Oil $106.79 +0.40 +0.38%

NYMEX Crude Oil $99.48 +1.47 +1.50%

West Texas Intermediate rose for the third time in four days after data showed the U.S. home-building industry is stabilizing. Brent was little changed near a six-week low.

Prices increased as much as 0.6 percent in New York. Building permits filed for future projects increased last month to the most since October and housing starts in the U.S. were little changed. Crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, fell last week and total U.S. supplies gained for a ninth week, a Bloomberg survey showed before an Energy Information Administration report tomorrow.

“The market is a little optimistic about the U.S. economy and the demand outlook,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago. “Building permits are increasing and housing starts are not bad. The market is waiting for tomorrow’s inventory report.”

WTI for April delivery gained 24 cents to $98.32 a barrel at 9:32 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was near the 100-day average for this time of day.

Brent for May settlement slid 15 cents to $106.09 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 22 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude settled at $106.24 a barrel yesterday, the lowest close since Feb. 4. Brent was at a premium of $8.31 to WTI for the same month. The spread closed at $8.62 yesterday.

The price of gold declines a second consecutive session on a stronger dollar due to political instability in the Crimea and the West's reaction .

Today in Parliament , Russian President Vladimir Putin said that now Sevastopol and Crimea are part of Russia , and the sanctions imposed by the EU and the U.S. , is an act of aggression , which will entail retaliatory measures. Moscow assured that an agreement to join the Crimea to Russia will be signed in the coming days .

Following comments by Putin acting president Alexander Turchinov reiterated that Kiev does not recognize Russia as part of the peninsula .

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister L. Fabius wrote in his twitter account that the leaders of the G8 decided to exclude Russia from the block, adding that " all the other countries in the face of Seven leading nations will unite in its course of action is not Russia."

Later this message denied German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that at the moment the status of Russia in the G8 remains the same.

U.S. President Barack Obama has invited the leaders of the G7 and EU officials for talks on Ukraine next week.

The cost of the April gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to $ 1351.10 per ounce.