Gold falls to its lowest since mid-March

LONDON: Gold fell on Tuesday to its lowest since midMarch as the election of centrist Emmanuel Macron as French president reduced demand for bullion as a safe haven while stocks and the dollar rose and 10-year US bond yields hit a five-week high.

Revived appetite for riskier assets has pushed global stocks to record highs, while the market’s so-called fear gauge, the VIX volatility index, fell to its lowest since 1993.

Rising stocks and higher bond yields raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while a stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The spot gold price was down 0.5 percent at $1,220.30 an ounce at 1246 GMT, falling below its 100-day moving average, a key technical support level currently at $1,224.

US gold futures were 0.5 percent lower at $1,220.70 an ounce. “With one of the largest political risk events now cleared, some consolidation is warranted, albeit political uncertainty lingers in Italy and is likely to remain for some time,” UBS analyst Joni Teves said. “Further pressure cannot be ruled out for now but we expect bargain hunting to emerge and physical buying to strengthen should the market test $1,200, paving the way for a recovery.”

Investors were looking ahead to US interest rate rises that would pressure gold, as they tend to push up bond yields and strengthen the dollar. The president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve said on Monday further increases were warranted, while the head of the St. Louis Fed said strong bond demand and sluggish workforce growth would limit rate rises.

Interest rate futures implied traders saw an 83 percent chance the Fed would raise rates by a quarter point in June, up from 79 percent late on Friday, CME Group’s FedWatch program showed. But ING analyst Hamza Khan said steady demand for physical gold in China and India and increased buying from central banks, particularly in China and Russia, would support prices.