Gold Fell 0.52% to $1,892.15

The price of yellow metal declined on Friday morning in Asia. Gold fell after breaking above the key $1,900 level for the second consecutive session in a row, with a Russia-U.S. meeting in the following week slowing investors’ dash toward safe-haven assets.

Gold futures dropped 0.52% to $1,892.15 by 11:34 PM ET (4:34 AM GMT) after hitting its highest point in eight months, or $1,902.22 earlier in the session.

U.S. stock futures recovered on Friday. However, shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly down, as U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine continue to simmer. Nevertheless, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken agreed to meet with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. 

According to the State Department, he accepted an invitation to meet Lavrov provided there was no invasion of Ukraine. Lavrov’s and Blinken’s meeting provides hope that diplomatic channels are open.

The U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris will meet with global leaders including the German chancellor Olaf Scholz. She will meet Scholz, the U.K. foreign secretary Liz Truss, and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The Russian Federation is demanding security guarantees, including Ukraine never joining NATO and western countries offering arms control and other confidence-building measures. 

Gold and interesting details

The price of gold rose as much as 1.8% on Thursday, climbing above the $1,900 mark for the first time in more than six months. Some investors expect its price to reach even better results should tensions continue to escalate, and vice versa, while benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields also firmed.

On the contrary, spot gold is set for a third consecutive weekly gain, up about 1.7% so far. 

Other precious metals were mixed. Palladium dropped 0.7% and silver was little changed at $23.80, with both of them set for small weekly gains. Platinum was up 0.3% and set for its best weekly showing in a long time.