Gold falls on stronger dollar, bond yields

Bengaluru — Gold prices fell on Wednesday, as the US dollar and treasury yields jumped after upbeat economic data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue hiking interest rates aggressively.

Spot gold was down 0.5% at $1,692.99 per ounce as of 3.30am GMT, having earlier fallen to a one-week trough. US gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,703.30.

“ISM services reading reminded investors that there is still some underlying momentum for this economy and it really kind of opens the door for the Fed to be even more aggressive with fighting inflation,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst with Oanda.

“The move in treasuries is rather concerning and it could really keep the pressure on gold.”

The US services industry picked up again in August for a second straight month amid stronger order growth and employment. The data has boosted the greenback with the dollar index scaling a fresh 20-year peak, making gold more expensive for overseas buyers.

Benchmark US 10-year treasury yields rose to their highest level since June 16 on expectations the Fed will keep hiking interest rates to tame soaring prices. Higher yields raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

The Fed is largely expected to deliver a 75-basis-point (bps) rate increase on September 21. The US central bank has raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 225 bps in total since March to fight soaring inflation.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), fell 0.21% to 971.05 tonnes on Tuesday from 973.08 tonnes on Friday.

Spot gold might test a support at $1,685 per ounce, a break below which could open the way towards $1,666-$1,673 range, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Spot silver fell 1.1% to $17.85 per ounce, platinum slipped 1% to $844.43 and palladium shed 1% to $1,985.25.

Reuters