Gold down as dollar rises, bond yields near multi-year highs

Gold prices fell on Wednesday, as the dollar and US Treasury yields rose to multi-year highs after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials boosted expectations of a sharp interest rate hike.

By 0404 GMT, spot gold fell 0.3% to $ 1624.12 an ounce (an ounce), approaching the lowest level in two and a half years of $ 1620.20 that it touched earlier in the week.

According to “Reuters”, US gold futures fell 0.3% to $1631.60 per ounce.

The dollar index rose to a new peak, the highest in 20 years, making gold priced in the US currency more expensive for buyers of other currencies.

Meanwhile, US 10-year Treasury yields rose to 4% for the first time since 2010.

Charles Evans, Federal Reserve Chairman in Chicago, James Bullard, his counterpart in St. Louis, and Neil Kashkari in Minneapolis reiterated the US central bank’s pledge to focus on tackling high inflation.

Evans said the US central bank would need to raise interest rates to a range between 4.50 percent and 4.75 percent.

Gold is considered a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty, but raising interest rates reduced the attractiveness of the yellow metal, which does not generate returns, and pushed the dollar to its highest levels in several years.

As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions to its lowest level in three weeks, and recorded in the latest trading, a decline of 1.4 percent to $ 18.17 an ounce.

Platinum fell 0.7 percent to $842.52 after hitting its lowest level since Sept. 5, while palladium fell 1.2 percent to $ 2061.31