Gold and silver hold at elevated levels ahead of the European open

 LONDON (Mar 2)  Gold (-0.16%) and silver (-0.88%) move into the European session lower after a decent rise on Tuesday. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is 0.20% higher and spot WTI (3.09%) has surged once again to reach 109.67/bbl.

The sentiment was mixed overnight. The Nikkei 225 (-1.68%) and Shanghai Composite (-0.13%) closed lower but the ASX managed to rise 0.28%. Futures in Europe are pointing towards a negative cash open. 

In FX markets, EUR/USD broke the previous wave low to move further lower last night. GBP/USD was the biggest mover falling 0.28%. In the crypto space, BTC/USD is down 1.25% and trading at $43,890 after a decent move higher over the last two sessions.

News from overnight:

U.S. President Biden says getting prices under control is the highest priority. 

The US Secretary of Defense has pledged continued support to Ukraine.

IMF and World Bank promise support for Ukraine "in coming months".

Yellen says G7 is ready to focus on freezing & seizing assets of Russian elites.

Canada wants to take Russia to the International Criminal Court over war crimes.

U.S. aviation authority says the ban on Russian aircraft will be posted Wednesday.

Swiss National Bank Vice Chairman Fritz Zurbruegg says will intervene in FX if needed.

Stock trading on Moscow Exchange remains closed today.

Russia's biggest lender, Sberbank, leaves European market.

U.K. February Nationwide house prices +1.7% vs +0.6% m/m expected.

Australian Q4 2021 GDP 3.4% q/q (vs. expected 3.0%).

Japan capex +3.4% q/q and +4.3% y/y in Q4 2021.

New Zealand building permits -9.2% m/m (vs. expected 0.5%, prior 0.6%).

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include German unemployment, EZ CPI, U.S. ADP, BoC rate decision, Ukraine and Russia meeting, comments from Fed's Powell, Bullard, Evans, ECB's Lane, Schnabel, de Guindos, and Nagel.

KITCO