Gold prices low on firm US yields

Gold prices low on firm US yields

Gold prices remain low on Thursday due to the continuous rise in US Treasury yields that has kept the non-yielding bullion under pressure. Spot gold was steady at $1, 711. 61 per ounce by 02:57 GMT while US gold futures dipped 0. 3% to $1, 710. 20. Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank "In the short term, undeniably gold is on a bearish trend. Most fundamentals are stacked against it: higher yields, dollar that refuses to drop further, recovering economic trajectory, picking up of vaccination rates." US Treasury yields have held at near 1. 5% affecting gold's role as a shield against inflation as they increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion. Investors are waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks on the central bank's monetary policy outlook. The market will need more than "jawboning" if the Fed is serious about keeping interest rates low, "but in the absence of that, the market would continue on its own path, which is higher yields and steepening of the yield curve," Lee said. Spot gold hit its highest since early October 2012 at $1, 788. 96 in early trade, and by 0958 GMT was at $1, 787. 31 per ounce,