Commodities Update — Gold flat; Platinum falls; Corn eases; Egypt’s wheat reserves sufficient for this year

Commodities Update — Gold flat; Platinum falls; Corn eases; Egypt’s wheat reserves sufficient for this year

RIYADH: Gold prices were flat on Thursday, restrained by rising Treasury yields ahead of key US jobs and inflation data this week that could influence the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike roadmap for fighting inflation. Spot gold was unchanged at $1,853.24 per ounce, as of 0303 GMT, while US gold futures eased 0.1 percent to $1,854.70. Spot silver rose 0.2 percent to $22.07 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.3 percent to $1,003.46. Palladium rose 0.9 percent to $1,960.94, after hitting a near three-week low of $1,930.28 on Wednesday. Chicago wheat futures rose for a second session on Thursday, as a lack of progress in talks to resume Ukrainian exports renewed concerns over world grain supplies, underpinning prices. Soybeans ticked lower, but the market traded near February’s 10-year high on expectations of strong demand for US cargoes, while corn eased for the first time in four sessions. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.4 percent to $10.79 a bushel, as of 0209 GMT. Soybeans added 0.1 percent to $17.41-3/4 a bushel, not far from a 2012 high of $17.59 hit in February, while corn lost 0.3 percent to $7.62-1/2 a bushel. Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves sufficient until end