As Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to call up reserve forces and escalate the conflict in Ukraine and US interest rates were hiked upward by the Fed, gold rose due to investors moving to safe-haven assets, before dropping as the dollar reached new highs and Treasury yields surged.

Spot gold was up 0.3% to $1686.35 by 3:32 PM ET before dropping to $1657.40 at 9:24 PM ET.

David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures said, “A portion of the reason (for gold’s gains) were some comments by Russian President Putin in regards to escalating the conflict in Ukraine… That’s clearly a supportive factor.”

On Wednesday, President Putin called up 300,000 reservists as he vowed to escalate the conflict in Ukraine to secure Russia’s security, vowing to use every weapon at Russia’s disposal should the West intervene, and pursue “nuclear blackmail.”

Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, said in a note, “In recent months gold had tended not to see much, if any, safe-haven demand on global concerns… Precious metals traders apparently reckon Putin’s threats are a big deal.”

Despite the escalation in Ukraine, rising interest rates and an increasingly powerful dollar mixed with elevated Treasury yields to to push gold downward as investors sought out stable assets with reliable yields.

Although gold is seen as a hedge against inflation and uncertainty, rising interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

Spot silver was up 0.7% to $19.45 per ounce, as platinum fell 0.9% to $914.37, and palladium dropped 0.7% to $2152.11.