By Seher Dareen
(Reuters) – Gold prices inched lower on Tuesday as dollar strengthened and bond yields rose, while investors awaited U.S. economic data later this week for more clues on the rate-hike trajectory by the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,838.40 per ounce by 9:45 a.m. ET (1445 GMT). U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,852.40.
The dollar index hovered around its highest in six weeks, making gold more expensive for other currency holders. Benchmark U.S. 10-year yields were close to their three-month high. [USD/][US/]
“Those are bearish outside market forces and you’ve also got some keener risk aversion in the marketplace which at this point of the day is working against gold and silver,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals. [.N]
“However, if the stock market starts to sell off a little bit more, you may see some better safe-haven demand come in and lift the gold market,” he said.
The focus this week will be on the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s January meeting minutes on Wednesday after strong recent U.S. economic readings raised bets for more Fed rate hikes.
Money market participants see the benchmark level peaking to 5.3% in July, and staying near those levels throughout the year.
High interest rates discourage investors from placing money in non-yielding assets such as gold.
Also on the radar, U.S. gross domestic product data is due on Thursday and core PCE price index is scheduled for release on Friday.
Swiss customs data showed that Switzerland sent 58.3 tonnes of gold worth 3.3 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) to Turkey in January, by far the most for any month in records stretching back to 2012.
In other metals, silver rose 0.6% to $21.87 per ounce, platinum gained 0.8% to $934.33 while palladium jumped 1.3% to $1,530.06.
(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
