Gold edges up, but safe-haven demand starts to fade

Bengaluru (Reuters): Gold prices edged up on Tuesday, but stayed near two-week lows as a stronger dollar, rising US Treasury yields and receding geopolitical worries crimped safe-haven demand for the metal.

After falling for three previous sessions, spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,327.20 per ounce by 0632 GMT. That was not far from a low of $1,321.81 touched on Monday, its weakest since 6 April. US gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,329.20 per ounce.

“Today in Asia, gold is higher following some choppy trading this morning ... and we are seeing some buying out of China,” MKS PAMP Group trader Tim Brown said.

Spot gold may bounce to $1,334 per ounce before falling again, as suggested by a rising channel and a retracement analysis, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

“Gold is going up and down with views on risk-aversion ... less risk-aversion is pushing it down. We feel that there could be more downward pressure on gold in the near-term,” said John Sharma, an economist with National Australia Bank.

“(A strong) dollar makes gold expensive for non-US buyers and rising yields increase the opportunity cost of holding gold, which is another factor lessening gold’s appeal.”

The dollar rose to more than three-month highs against a basket of currencies as the US 10-year Treasury yield climbed towards the psychologically key 3% level. The US 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest in over four years on Monday.

Gold prices also came under downward pressure from an improvement in the geopolitical environment, with the US Treasury Secretary cautiously optimistic on his negotiations with China, North Korea freezing its nuclear testing, and Washington extending its deadline for sanctions against Russia’s Rusal, said OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan.

Palladium plunged 5% on Monday after the United States gave American customers of Russia’s biggest aluminium producer, Rusal, more time to comply with sanctions.

Rusal owns a 28% stake in Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest palladium producer. 

Spot palladium was up 0.7% on Tuesday at $985.35 an ounce. Platinum was 0.1% higher at $918 an ounce.

Silver rose over 1% to $16.71 an ounce, having fallen over 3% in the previous session.