Investing.com – Gold prices were mostly unchanged on Wednesday as an uptick in U.S. bond yields kept a lid on demand for the precious metal but losses were limited by weakness in the dollar.
Gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $0.80 or 0.06%, to $1,312.90 a troy ounce.
The return of a 3% yield on the 10-year treasury and a rise in 2-year bond yields to a nearly 10-year high following President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal.
Gold is sensitive to moves in higher U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding gold as it pays no interest.
The dollar’s slump from a fresh 2018 high, however, provided some respite for the yellow metal as wholesale inflation data undershot forecast.
The Labor Department said on Wednesday its producer price index for final demand fell by 0.1% last month after, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise. In the 12 months through August, the PPI rose 2.6% after rising 3% in March.
Yet, the prospect for a June rate hike remained intact; more than 95% of traders expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its next meeting in June, according to investing.com’s fed rate monitor tool.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in the U.S. dollar – a stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, thus, reduces investor demand for the precious metal.
A mixed geopolitical backdrop, meanwhile, did little to garner demand for safe-haven gold as the prospect of U.S.-North Korea summit inched closer seemingly offsetting the fallout from the United States’ decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.47% to $16.55 a troy ounce, while platinum futures added 0.58% to $917.40 an ounce.
Copper rose 0.13% to $3.06.