Precious-Gold traded near six-month highs on Monday on political tension between Russia and the West after Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia. A referendum on Sunday showed that Crimea voted with 95.5 percent to join Russia, opening the door for Western sanctions on Russia. U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that the referendum is not legitimate, while the EU is prepared to impose sanctions on Moscow. So far, the yellow metal has gained near 15 percent this year, after recording its biggest weekly rally since August 2011, following a 28 percent in 2013. However, the rally of gold would largely depend on the outcome of the Fed`s on March 18-19, where expectations are in favor of seeing further bond purchases cut by slashing another $10 billion this month to $55 billion. The attention this week will be on U.S. data, as investors are eager to know the outcome of the awaited Fed meeting. Meanwhile, the yellow metal is trading around $1369.17 an ounce after hitting a high of $1376.65 and a low of $1367.75. However, the metal may face some resistance at the current level, especially amid possible profit taking by investors after the recent rally. The Stochastic Oscillator momentum indicator is pointing that the metal is moving in an overbought area and thereby may face some downside pressure. The U.S. dollar rose for the first time in four days against a basket of major currencies to hover around 79.46 after opening at 79.39, according to the dollar index. Crude oil for April’s delivery inched down to $98.98 a barrel, after recording its second weekly decline last week.

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