• The yellow metal rallies with investors flocking to safe havens.
• Russian forces invaded Ukraine after Vladimir Putin authorized a special military operation.
• Russia-Ukraine crisis walloped risk appetite, which in turn underpins the safe haven demand.

Gold rallied on Thursday reaching its highest level in more than a year since investors are crowding towards safe havens as Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

The Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered military operations in Ukraine On Wednesday, demanding Kyiv forces to surrender. Military command centres Ukraine in Kyiv and Kharkiv have reportedly been attacked by missile strikes.

As Russia goes to war, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces the imposition of martial law, which will cover the entire country. Zelenskyy noted: “Russia carried out missile strikes on our infrastructure and on our border guards.”

This update came after Ukrainian President Zelensky and his American counterpart Joe Biden spoke on the phone, earlier on. Meanwhile, various witnesses are tweeting of Hypersonic missiles being used to attack Kramatorsk while Ukraine’s 54th mechanized base just got shot.

Meanwhile, In a tweet, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapons strikes.

Elsewhere, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmtryo Kuleba had requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to reach a positive outcome against the ongoing tensions with Moscow. However, the Kremlin is supposed to strike Ukraine before the scheduling of the UN Security Council emergency meeting.

Having initially promised “further consequences” for Russia, due to Moscow’s military attack on Ukraine, US President Joe Biden tweeted, “Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the Leaders of the G7, and the United States and our Allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia.”

XAU/USD 4 Hour Chart:

Support: 1895.3 (S1), 1881.9 (S2), 1874.3 (S3).

Resistance: 1916.2 (R1), 1923.8 (R2), 1937.1 (R3).

Gold which is perceived as a safe store of value during uncertain times, has risen about 8% in February since headlines on developments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis walloped risk appetite. We expect a bullish trend for XAU/USD.