Gold and silver experienced mixed results on Monday but were given signs that this week may end up being positive for precious metals. Tensions across Ukraine are on the rise once more and the entire crisis is on the verge of becoming violent once more. The Ukrainian military has recently been mobilized in order to squash pro-Russian demonstrations which have surfaced within the past week or so.

Remarks made by the president of the European Central Bank may have prevented spot gold and silver from making significant gains on Monday, What’s more, the ECB president may soon be making monetary policy decisions that will have precious metals investors paying attention even more.

Crisis in Ukraine Resurfaces And Catches the Market’s Attention

For the past week or more there have been a rising number of pro-Russia demonstrations taking place all over Ukraine. In the last few days these somewhat peaceful demonstrations are becoming increasingly violent as pro-Russian demonstrators are beginning to lay claim to buildings and checkpoints. The Ukrainian army gave the demonstrators an ultimatum of either leaving the buildings they have taken over or facing anti-terrorism measures, an ultimatum that has since passed. The military has not taken any action against the demonstrators but as time progresses the chance that the situation(s) will turn violent will inevitably increase.

These demonstrations are coming in the immediate wake of reports claiming that Russia rigged the vote which saw Crimea rejoin the Russian Federation. There is no saying how the crisis will play out over the next few days and weeks, but so long as tensions remain high the safe-haven demand for precious metals will too.

Finally, there was a report released today claiming that Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, said that monetary stimulus measures may not be too far away. Recently, investor worries with regard to rising deflationary pressures has put a lot of pressure on the ECB to do something in order to avoid widespread, long-term deflation. There is no saying when Europe’s central bank will actually take decisive action with regard to altering monetary policy which is why we will continue to keep an eye on the situation.