Gold nudges up as slump in U.S. yields counters buoyant dollar

Gold nudges up as slump in U.S. yields counters buoyant dollar

Gold edged up in choppy trading on Monday as a buoyant U.S. dollar was offset by Treasury yields slumping to their lowest since February. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,815.16 per ounce by 10:00 am EDT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,812.70. "Gold is caught in a tug-of-war between a rising dollar that weighs down on the precious metal and a drop in risk appetite, which supports it's price," said Ricardo Evangelista, a senior analyst at ActivTrades. A stronger dollar, which hit a more than three-month high, drove gold to a one-week trough earlier in the session, but a sharp fall in U.S. benchmark Treasury yields helped gold pare its early losses. Sentiment in riskier markets was bruised by investors' fears over a relentless surge in coronavirus cases, which forced many Asian countries into imposing lockdowns, and growing inflationary pressures. "Stagflation could become a really interesting element if we keep seeing slowing economic growth coupled with some inflationary fears," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst with Kitco Metals. "Theoretically, stagflation should be bullish for gold because you've got rising inflation, which suggests investors are going to look at hard assets including gold and slowing economic growth which might put in