Gold prices treaded water early Monday after the most-active contract finished off last week at its lowest level of the year as a stronger U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields undercut the yellow metal.
Price action
-
Gold for April delivery
GC00,
+0.39% GCJ23,
+0.39%
rose 70 cents, or 0.1%, to $1,818 per ounce on Comex. -
May silver
SIH23,
-0.46%
fell by 16 cents, or 0.8%, to $20.77 per ounce. -
June palladium
PAH23,
+5.24%
rose $50, or 3.7%, to $55.60 per ounce, while April platinum
PLJ23,
+4.44%
gained $18, or 2%, to $928 per ounce. -
May copper
HGH23,
+0.99%
rose 3 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.98 per pound.
Market drivers
Gold prices retreated for the fourth straight week through Friday as data have shown that interest-rate hikes by global central banks have failed to slow the economy, stoking expectations that the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and their rivals might raise policy rates even higher to try to combat inflation.
These expectations have weighed on gold prices while sending yields on global bonds higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
was nearing 4% on Monday.
“Gold has endured a sharp reality check with its price tumbling by almost $150 an ounce so far in February,” said Rupert Rowling, an analyst at Kinesis Money.
Precious metal prices have been “pressured by rising bond yields and firming Fed rate hike expectations,” said Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM, in a note to clients.
