Gold falls as rising yields dent appeal

GOLD slipped on Friday and was heading for a weekly fall, pressured by elevated Treasury yields, while investors awaited next week’s US inflation data for more clues on the timing of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was down 0.5% at $2,022.86 per ounce at 01:47 p.m. ET (1847 GMT) and fell 0.8% over the week.

US gold futures settled 0.4% lower at $2038.70.

Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields rose to a two-week high, and two-year yields hit an almost two-month high, making non-yielding bullion less attractive for investors.

The Fed will likely keep rates higher for longer, which means most central banks will probably follow suit, Everett Millman, chief market analyst at Gainesville Coins, said.

“I think that things are trending lower for the gold price; there is a pretty strong floor support at about $1,960 that I don’t expect to see gold go below,” he added.

Several Fed officials, including Chairman Jerome Powell, have said this week they want to see more evidence inflation will continue to decline before cutting rates.

Revised government data showed on Friday that US monthly consumer prices rose less than initially estimated in December. Market participants now await US consumer price index for January, due on Tuesday.

According to the CME Fedwatch tool, traders now see about a 61% chance of an interest rate cut in May. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding bullion.

Elsewhere, palladium fell 2.5% to $865.07 per ounce; platinum was down 1.6% at $870.97. Prices of both metals were heading for a second weekly dip.

Prices of auto-catalyst metal palladium fell below those of platinum for the first time since April 2018 on Thursday. —