Gold falls to 2-1/2-month trough, Fed rate hike in focus

Gold falls to 2-1/2-month trough, Fed rate hike in focus

Gold prices fell on Tuesday to their lowest level since mid-February as investors braced for more aggressive rate hikes from the U.S. central bank that have boosted the dollar and Treasury yields and lifted the opportunity cost of holding gold. Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,857.48 per ounce by 0942 GMT. Prices fell to $1,849.90, the lowest level since Feb. 16, earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures were also down 0.3% at $1,857.50 per ounce. "The focus of the market is very much attached to the tightening of monetary policies by the main central banks, especially the Federal Reserve," said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades. "We've seen yields on the 10-year Treasury going above 3% and this is very penalizing for an asset that doesn't yield like gold."

Investors expect the Fed to raise rates by 50 basis points at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday in order to rein in soaring inflation, while comments by Chairman Jerome Powell will be scanned for further signals on rate hikes. Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hovered at 3%, a key psychological level, for a second straight day on Tuesday, while the dollar held near 20-year highs, making greenback-priced gold less