• Gold prices are flat, slumping early on concern about rising US bond yields and global interest rates, but buyers emerged to lift bullion when it hit a technical support level at about $US1,312 an ounce.
• Spot gold was unchanged at $US1,318.12 per ounce by 1.53 pm Thursday EST (0553 Friday AEDT), up off the session low of $US1,306.81, its lowest since January 2. US gold futures for April delivery settled up $US4.40, or 0.3 per cent, at $US1,319 per ounce.
• While a strengthening US dollar weighed on gold during the recent global stock market sell-off, more investors decided to buy bullion later, when prices touched the support level, said Michael Matousek, head trader at US Global Investors.
"Gold came into support at $US1,312 and bounced right from there," Matousek said.
"That support comes back from the late-December and early-January level and the level from October," Matousek added. Between late December and early January, gold prices rallied, reaching their highest in 1-1/2 years at $US1,366.07, largely on US dollar weakness.
• In early trade, inflation-linked US bond yields crept up close to four-year highs after the Bank of England signalled more aggressive rate hikes. This fed concern that central banks around the world will raise interest rates.
• "The increase in real bond yields has been pressuring gold, on top of the rebound we have seen in the dollar," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.
• Analysts polled by Reuters said they did not expect the dollar to rebound this year, despite expectations of at least three rate rises. The dollar later turned flat.
• Meanwhile, silver increased 0.4 per cent at $US16.43 an ounce after touching $US16.22, the lowest since December 22.
• Platinum declined 0.4 per cent at $US976.30 per ounce, after touching a one-month low at $US965.
• Palladium dropped 1.9 per cent at $US965.90 an ounce after reaching its lowest since October 31 at $US964.22.
• Palladium fell below technical support at its 55-day moving average and broke an eight-month uptrend, Commerzbank analysts said. The metal, used in catalytic converters to control vehicle emissions, rose 56 per cent last year and to an all-time high in January.
Reference: Business News
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