By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Wednesday morning in Asia. U.S. yields stabilized and a stronger dollar turned investors away from the yellow metal.
Gold futures were down 0.31% at $1,711.55 by 11:58 PM ET (4:58AM GMT), but remained above the $1,700 mark. The dollar, which usually moves inversely to gold, was up on Wednesday.
U.S. Treasury yields stabilized on Wednesday after their drop overnight. On the central bank front, the European Central Bank will hand down its monetary policy on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to take up a $1.9 trillion stimulus package bill on Tuesday. With the Senate already passing the bill earlier in the week, the vote enables the House of Representatives to consider the bill on Wednesday, with President Joe Biden expected to sign it into law as soon as this week.
Adding to optimism about the global economic recovery from COVID-19, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s interim economic outlook predicted that the world economy is set to rebound in 2021 with 5.6% growth and expand 4.0% in 2022.
In other precious metals, the global platinum market will be roughly balanced in 2021 after a record undersupply of almost a million ounces in 2020, but more deficits could be ahead as demand picks up, according to the World Platinum Investment Council. Platinum steadied at $1,169.19.
Silver edged up 0.2%, and palladium was little changed at $2,296.70.