Bullish traders jumped in to buy the early price losses, bringing gold prices upward in lunchtime U.S. trading Wednesday. Gold reached an eight-month high on Tuesday. At the halfway point of the week, risk aversion is still high, which is good news for the safe-haven metals markets. Gold futures for April were trading at $1,911.00, up $3.50 from their previous close.

The Russian intervention into Ukraine is still a hot topic on the market. The United States and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, but it appears that the West has no plans to take military action against Moscow. For the time being, this has calmed the market. It's still a risky situation, since a military mistake on either side might escalate the crisis dramatically. From a market viewpoint, the main concern on traders' and investors' minds is whether the uncertainty/anxiety component has peaked. Keep in mind that markets frequently overreact to major geopolitical events in their early stages. Traders frequently include a worst-case scenario into market prices, only to find that the worst-case scenario rarely occurs.

April gold futures prices are set to settle at an eight-month high today, according to technical indicators. Bulls have a strong technical advantage in the short term. On the daily bar chart, prices are in a strong upward trend. The next price target for bulls is a closure above sturdy resistance at the $1,922.40 high set in May 2021. The bears' next short-term price target is to knock futures prices below strong technical support at $1,850.00. The high of this week, $1,918.30, is the first level of resistance, followed by $1,922.40. The first level of support is $1,900.00, followed by this week's low of $1,889.70.