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On Monday, gold prices fell from an 8-month peak as President Joe Biden agreed to meet his Russian counterpart on the Ukraine crisis. This development dented the demand for the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold is currently trading at $1,891.23 per ounce as of 0750 GMT.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday that Biden agreed, in principle, to a summit with Vladimir Putin but only if an invasion hasn’t happened. He said he pitched to both leaders a meeting to discuss the security and strategic stability in Europe. But that summit will only push through after the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week.

However, the Belarusian defense ministry announced that Russia would extend military exercises in Belarus due to end on Sunday. It got Blinken worried about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine. There were around 30,000 Russian troops in Belarus, just north of Ukraine. Also, the sporadic shelling between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists intensified last week.

Meanwhile, buyers in major Asian hubs postponed physical gold purchases due to higher prices. Local prices in India climbed to their highest level since January 2021 and prompted dealers to offer seven-month high discounts. Jewelers canceled purchases in anticipation of lower prices when the tensions between Russia and Ukraine eased. The physical gold markets in China and Hong Kong were quiet because of higher prices and the COVID-19 situation.

On the technical front, DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang noted that gold prices breached the key resistance level at $1,876 per ounce. The MACD indicator formed a bullish crossover, which indicates that buying pressure might be building. She sees the next resistance at $1,915, the previous high was seen in May 2021.

Yang also mentioned that the SPDR Gold Trust had two consecutive weeks of net inflow this month. It underscores the rising demand for gold. She also said the implied probability of a 50-basis-point interest rate hike in March has dropped from 49.2% to 15.3%. This development alleviated pressure on the non-interest-bearing metal.

FXStreet senior analyst Dhwani Mehta added that the price correction could pave the way for another upward trend towards the June 2021 highs. She also noted that gold’s 14-day Relative Strength Index is just under the overbought territory indicating more room for further gains.