Shafaq News

Gold edged lower on Thursday as higher Treasury yields and afirm dollar weighed on the metal, while hopes of a resolution to the U.S.-Iranconflict limited losses.

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $4,528.03 per ounce, as of 0611GMT. Bullion had gained more than 1% on Wednesday after falling to its lowestlevel since March 30 earlier in the day.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 0.1% at $4,528.90.

The dollar rose 0.1%, making greenback-priced ⁠bullion expensive for othercurrency holders.

"Inflation expectation, rising yields, and strongerdollar are the headwinds keeping gold prices under pressure. And these factorswill continue to remain in place until we get clarity on how long the conflictis going to persist," said ANZ analyst Soni Kumari.

Gold has fallen more than 14% since the war began in lateFebruary, as the non-yielding metal tends to decline on expectations of higherinterest rates.

Iran said it was reviewing Washington's latest position onending the war after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he was prepared towait a few days to "get the right answers" from Tehran.

The yield on ⁠theU.S. 10-year Treasury bond was up 1 basis point at 4.578%, resuming its climbafter snapping a three-day streak of declines.

Markets are increasingly pricing in possibilities of theFederal Reserve tightening monetary policy this year, with a 39% chance of a 25basis-point hike expected in December, per CME Group's FedWatch tool.

"The overall trend of 10-year ⁠U.S. Treasury yield, since the start of earlyMarch, is still in a medium-term uptrend phase. Hence, gold bulls may not be soaggressive in beating up prices at this juncture," said Kelvin Wong, asenior market analyst ⁠atOANDA.

Minutes of the Fed's April meeting showed a majority ofpolicymakers felt "some policy firming would likely becomeappropriate" if inflation stays persistently above the central bank's 2%target.

Gold is expected to remain weak ⁠in the upcoming sessions, with resistance seen at$4,645 levels and support at $4,456 levels, said Wong.

Spot silver was down 1.1% at $75.19 per ounce, platinum lost0.9% to $1,933.13, and palladium fell 0.8% to $1,359.20.

(Reuters)

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