 "gold")
By Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) - Gold fell to a more than two-week low on Wednesday as safe-haven appeal of the metal was dimmed by hopes of progress in Russia-Ukraine talks, with rising bond yields adding pressure to bullion as markets braced for a U.S. interest rate hike.
Spot gold was down 0.4% at $1,909.87 per ounce as of 10:59 ET (1459 GMT), after touching its lowest since March 1 at $1,903.59 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures fell 0.9% to $1,912.80.
"Everybody is anticipating the Federal Reserve verdict this afternoon and the big question is, whether it is a quarter point or half point rate hike," RJO Futures senior market strategist Bob Haberkorn said.
"Stocks have been resilient this morning and bouncing back so there is a risk-on sentiment in the market and gold being a safety asset, is lower for the time being."
Wall Street's main indexes jumped on Wednesday, led by gains in technology and financial stocks.
The policy statement, due at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), will be followed by news conference Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Traders are pricing in an increase of at least 25 basis points.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields hit almost three-year highs. Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, and consequently higher yields increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said peace talks were sounding more realistic, even as Russia's invasion continued, but that more time was needed.
"Some positive news reports on the Russia-Ukraine war front and the recent big drop in crude oil prices are lifting marketplace sentiment," Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, wrote in a note.
Spot silver fell 1.1% to $24.59 per ounce, while platinum rose 1.6% to $1,001.25.
Palladium edged 0.6% higher to $2,438.68 per ounce amid receding supply fears.
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru, additional reporting bu Seher Dareen; Editing by Alexander Smith and Nick Macfie)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
