Gold stages rebound as US dollar, Treasury yields slip
KUALA LUMPUR: Gold prices gained on Wednesday, helped by a slight retreat in the dollar and lower US bond yields as investors await a US core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index report due later this week for interest rate clues.
Spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at US$3,314.19 an ounce, as of 0040 GMT, after dropping more than 1 per cent on Tuesday. US gold futures rose 0.4 per cent to US$3,313.20.
The dollar index fell 0.1 per cent after a sharp rise in the previous session, making greenback-priced gold more attractive for other currency holders.
US Treasury yields declined as concerns over rising global government debt supply, which lifted bond yields last week, were partly eased by expectations that Japan could issue less longer-dated debt.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump rolled back his threat to impose 50 per cent tariffs on imports from the EU next month, restoring a July 9 deadline to allow for talks. This boosted risk sentiment in the wider financial markets.
Data showed on Tuesday that US consumer confidence snapped five straight months of declines and improved in May amid a truce in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday called for keeping interest rates steady until there is more clarity on how higher tariffs affect inflation.
Investors now look forward to US PCE for April, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, on Friday.
Gold imports to Switzerland from the US jumped to the highest monthly level since at least 2012 in April after the exclusion of precious metals from US import tariffs, Swiss customs data showed on Tuesday.
Spot silver eased 0.1 per cent to US$33.27 an ounce, platinum was up 0.6 per cent at US$1,085.97 and palladium edged 0.1 per cent lower to US$977.09.
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