By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was down on Thursday morning in Asia. The safe-haven yellow metal saw a gain of 2% in the second week due to the conflict in Ukraine.

They were at $1,974.45 as of 1:10 AM ET (5:00 AM GMT), and had fallen 0.52% by the end of the day. However, they have gained about 1.7% in the past week. Friday will see markets including those in the U.S. and Australia close for holiday. On Thursday, the, which moves in an opposite direction to gold, fell and was able to recover from its May 2020 highs.

Following steady gains throughout the month, Wednesday’s benchmark declined. Investors bet that the U.S. Federal Reserve would tighten monetary policies to limit high inflation.

Asia Pacific’s policy loan interest rate will be cut by the PBOC on Friday. This is the second such reduction since 2022. The PBOC will likely reduce the reserve ratio in due course.

As it issued its most recent policy decision, the Fed raised its interest rate by 1.5% to 1.5%. Investors await its policy decision later that day.

The war in Ukraine continues, despite the Russian invasion of February 24th. The U.S. stated Wednesday that it would provide additional military support to Ukraine in the form of $800 millions, just ahead of the Russian attack expected on its eastern parts.

On Wednesday, SPDR Gold Trust (P) holdings rose by 1% to 1,104.42 tonnes. Other precious metals were up 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. They rose 1.8%.