Gold prices edge up, face pressure from United States rate hike bets

Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday as a slight dip in U.S. bond yields provided support against growing expectations of quicker-than-expected U.S. interest rate hikes that also pushed the dollar to a multi-month high.

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,739.36 per ounce by 0746 GMT, recovering from a one-month low hit on Tuesday.

U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $1,741.00.

"There is very little bullish case for gold right now," OCBC Bank economist Howie Lee said.

"We see gold at around $1,500 by the end-2022, especially with tapering having completed its course by then and the Fed looking to start raising its interest rates."

The dollar index hit the highest in nearly 11 months.

Though the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields eased slightly, it held above 1.5%, a level last seen in June.

Higher yields raise the opportunity costs of holding non-interest bearing bullion.

The St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard on Tuesday said high inflation may require more aggressive steps by the central bank, including two interest rate hikes in 2022.

In congressional testimony, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy is far from achieving maximum employment, one of the central bank's requirements for raising interest rates.

Having broken through support at $1,740, gold could test $1,700 this week if tapering repricing continues, Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific at OANDA said in a note, adding some risk-hedging was supporting bullion on the day.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, slipped to 990.03 tonnes on Tuesday from the day before.

Silver fell 0.8% to $22.26 per ounce.

Platinum was flat at $967.38, while palladium gained 1.5% to $1,903.90.

 

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng and Nakul Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. And Barbara Lewis)